GREAT BARRINGTON — At the annual town meeting in June, Great Barrington taxpayers will weigh in on whether to fund their portion of $1.5 million to be borrowed by the Berkshire Hills Regional School District for a technical study in advance of a possible rebuild of Monument Mountain Regional High School.
That was the unanimous decision of the selectboard last night after a presentation from Berkshire Hills Superintendent Peter Dillon, who briefed the board on changes in the district since the last unsuccessful try at rebuilding Monument nearly eight years ago.
Earlier this month, the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee voted unanimously to borrow $1.5 million to fund a feasibility and schematic study. That development came on the heels of the news a few days earlier that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) had invited the school district into its eligibility period for state funding for a new high school.
See Edge video below of last night’s Great Barrington Selectboard meeting. Dillon’s presentation begins at approximately 15:00:
Last night, Dillon was decidedly more upbeat about the prospects for success than at any other time since November 2014 when, for the second time in 12 months, a Proposition 2½ override failed in tax-weary Great Barrington, effectively killing the $50-million-plus project and sending officials back to the drawing board — and the district back to the end of the line for MSBA funding.
Dillon said he believes a number of things have changed since then — all for the best. Topping his list was a change in the way the cost of capital projects such as the high school rebuild are shared among the three member towns of the district.
The district’s costs are shared proportionately among the three towns by the number of students enrolled. Since it sends the lion’s share of students to the district’s schools, Great Barrington foots between 70 and 75 percent of the costs, depending on the year, with the smaller Stockbridge and West Stockbridge paying a far lower percentage.
In 2017, voters in all three towns approved a measure that would change the way the cost of funding capital projects was apportioned. The 50-year-old district agreement was revised so that the towns would each pay the same property tax rate to fund the capital portion of the district’s budget, rather than be assessed mostly on the number of students they enroll in the district. This lowered Great Barrington’s share for capital projects to slightly more than 54 percent, a nearly 20 percentage-point reduction.
“That in itself is a huge deal and in some ways the most significant thing that has happened during my time in the district,” said Dillon, who has been the superintendent at Berkshire Hills since 2009.
The high school has also expanded its vocational education programs and is planning to add more, which could fill a regional need for skilled workers and tradespeople, and enhance its standing with the MSBA.
Berkshire Hills has been reapplying for eligibility every year since 2014, and has been rejected several times. When the district was finally accepted again by the MSBA this year, Dillon said in its latest round the authority had approved 17 projects and rejected 42. Last time the MSBA would have paid for 41 percent of the project. This time around it could be as high as 54 percent.
“That we got back in the queue after two unsuccessful votes is a minor miracle,” Dillon said. “I think this is the only shot we’re going to have with the MSBA in the foreseeable future.”
Dillon explained that Monument is one of only two un-renovated high schools in Berkshire County, the other being Pittsfield High School. Every other high school in the county is either a new building or an older one that has been “significantly renovated.”
Another potentially major factor is the retiring of old debt that could soften the cost of the project considerably. In 2005, Berkshire Hills opened new regional elementary and middle schools on Monument Valley Road near the high school on Route 7. But in order to build Muddy Brook Elementary School and W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School, the district had to issue 20-year bonds to complete the $29 million project.
Those bonds are scheduled to be paid off in 2024, so if the debt for the two schools is retired at about the same time as the new debt is assumed for the Monument project, it would blunt the effect of the tax increases necessary to finance it. Officials insist it is too early to estimate the cost of rebuilding the high school or say whether a Proposition 2½ override vote would be necessary this time around. Proposition 2½ is a state law limiting tax-levy increases for municipalities.
There is another movement happening that could affect the future of the district. The Regional School District Planning Board has been working for two years to explore the possibility of enhanced collaboration or consolidation between the Berkshire Hills and the Southern Berkshire regional school districts.Â
Last week, a consultant for the board recommended a full K-12 merger of the two districts, whose high school students would attend Monument. This would require the approval of all eight towns in both districts. If it is approved by voters and ratified by the state legislature, the merger could affect the size of the proposed high school. Dillon said Monument has roughly 530 students and Mount Everett Regional School in Sheffield has between 160 and 180 students in grades 9 through 12.
“What is potentially in flux is whether we are building a high school for three towns or a high school for eight towns,” Dillon cautioned.
In order for Berkshire Hills to move forward with the project, consultants and architects will need to be identified and hired, and a building committee will need to be formed in order to start and perform the feasibility study and design schematics. This is why the district needs to borrow the money. Dillon said a district-wide vote on an approval could come as early as the fall of 2023.
Dillon is making the rounds to selectboards and finance committees in his district. He told The Edge he attended the March 14 West Stockbridge Selectboard meeting. Chairman Eric Shimelonis said his board voted at that time to place the borrowing item on its town meeting warrant as well. Dillon said he will visit the Stockbridge Board of Selectmen on April 7.
