To the editor:
A hopeful response is forthcoming by July 31 following the official June invitation from one regional school district to another, namely Berkshire Hills to Southern Berkshire to discuss merging high schools. It occurs at a critical time due to a confluence of factors and a plethora of studies that have been in public discussion over the past five years.
The reduction of educational programs and facilities has been the victim of rising costs and declining enrollment. Unification of the two high schools would broaden learning opportunities; streamline required administrative and financial processes; and minimize the effect of antiquated state policies that have resulted in the use of musical chairs (drawing students from other districts), complex “sharing” to address systemic, structural changes in education and demographics shifts.
A consolidated high school program with approximately 350 from BHRSD’s three towns and 200 from SBRSD’s five towns would have about 550 students, approximately the same size as now. There would be no need to build a school 35-40% larger than needed or largely supplement enrollment (from outside the district) at greatly reduced rates, as currently subsidized by in-district towns.
In planning major steps, officials from both districts and their towns might consider the following:
- Create a broad curriculum available to students of both high schools using the available teaching staff. Identify duplications, opportunities and voids. Explore Berkshire Community College and Bard College at Simon’s Rock to fill the voids, including those involving early college, technical and vocational programs.
- Utilize both high school campuses, at least for the first five years. Decide which specialized programs would be conducted at each campus. For example, agriculture, horticulture and culinary arts might occur at one. Perhaps automotive and building trades at the other. Consolidate facilities accordingly, thus eliminating duplications.
- Create three concurrent working committees: 1) curriculum and design; 2) finance and administration; 3) transportation. Each would seek state support for funding and pilot programs.
- Agree on, and announce, major milestones that integrate decision processes among all working committees.
- Arrange a meeting with the acclaimed consultants (District Management Group) used by the Berkshire County Education Task Force and funded by the state to draw on their relevant research and analysis of school merger issues and to discuss creative solutions that others have used.
- Leave the responsibility of funding the new high school to the three-town Berkshire Hills Regional School District. This would simplify constituent approval, state-granting and banking-borrowing processes. It would also incentivize a high school merger by removing obligations for other towns to pay construction costs. Negotiate needs for later capital expenditures of both buildings.
- Financially each district would retain its own debts and liabilities, including capital costs and its large, unfunded health care costs for staff and retirees. For health care, each district should create reserves to eliminate its large liabilities within 10 years.
- Standardize the operating cost per student (CPS) so that both districts and their towns are paying the same rate for each of their high school students, combining the budget (perhaps with a few exceptions).
- Reach agreements (within six months) with towns and school committee that wish to join the new consolidated high school or pay the same standardized rate (CPS) for their high school students to attend. This includes other towns without high schools that tuition in. The new school would be built to accommodate only the number of students coming from towns that have agreed to those terms BEFORE conceptual planning assumptions are completed.
- Assuming that both school districts agree in principle to merge high schools within six months, explore design alternatives for a new high school within the following six months.
While there will some short-term reorganization costs, the long-term benefits of exciting new educational advantages for our students and communities merit the support of us all.
Sharon Gregory
Great Barrington