When it comes to consideration of what to do about Monument Mountain Regional High School (MMRHS), there is no limit to the Sturm und Drang. Emotionally fraught discussions concern dismay as to how we got to this point, angst that the issue was not resolved sooner, and anger at the cost to get us back on track. Without discounting these legitimate concerns, we should also consider what it would mean to our community if we did not rescue MMRHS. Given the season, let us consider this question through the prism of “It’s a Wonderful Life”: What would our town look like in the absence of MMRHS?
Consider there are three legs to a stool for a thriving community: housing, education, and commerce. Lacking any one leg causes the community to collapse. Without question, an extreme oversimplification, but useful for our discussion, nevertheless. Let us agree that there will be no economic development if employers will not locate here because employees cannot be housed here and children cannot be educated here. We often discuss the cost to the community to replace the high school, but we must also consider the significant cost to our community if we choose not to invest in MMRHS.
The closure of high schools can have profound and lasting effects on towns and communities, triggering a cascade of economic and social challenges. If we want to precipitate the decline and fall of Great Barrington, not saving MMRHS is surely the fastest path. Spend several minutes researching the question and you find community roadkill following high school closures:
- Sheffield, Penn.: Due to declining enrollment in this rural community, the high school closed, contributing to additional population loss, economic downturn, and reduced services, which created a self-reinforcing cycle of challenges.
- Arena, Wis.: School closure forced students to travel to neighboring towns for education, leading to logistical challenges, emotional distress, and deep community divisions.
- Rochester, N.Y.: Rochester closed 11 of 45, contributing to broader economic and social challenges. Certainly not a Kodak moment.
The through line here is the certainty that school closures lead to economic decline, social disruption, and population decline. Wash and repeat.
Let us consider the social impacts of school closures. MMRHS serves as our central gathering point for sports, for Town Meeting (no one wants to go back to the Mahaiwe, I am told), and other civil activities. And when you lose that communal point of interaction, communities become less connected to one another, leading to disengagement.
Let us consider the economic consequences of the closure of high schools. Proximity to quality schools is often the single greatest factor in increasing real estate values. Of course, we all know this to be true; when considering where to move, one of the first questions is always “and what are the schools like there?” Homeowners should consider that the out-of-pocket cost to replace MMRHS pales in comparison to the decline in their property values if we do not.
Let us consider the educational consequences. No local school means students have to travel further, increasing transportation costs and, critical to development, an inability to do something more beneficial than sitting in a car or bus commuting. As you would expect, research suggests that longer school commutes negatively impact student performance. The factors leading to diminished performance include fatigue, loss of extracurricular activities, and loss of social engagement.
And let us consider Great Barrington’s civic identity. Closure of MMRHS will diminish local pride and our standing in South County. Great Barrington is without question the heart and soul of South County. Its thriving downtown, restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues draw people to our area and contribute to our vibrant community, as does having a thriving school.
Now, let us consider the George Bailey question: What would our town look like without MMRHS? Well, there will be population decline, to be sure. Families with children will move to areas with better or more accessible schools, leading to greater population decline. If you think Great Barrington has an aging population now, consider Great Barrington without young families for years to come.
Without MMRHS, there will be less overall investment in the area. And that loss of economic activity will lead to reduced tax revenue. Property values will drop as folks move to areas with accessible schools, leading to reduced tax revenue. Services critical to our area will become unaffordable as revenue streams dry up. Decline will occur slowly at first and then gain speed. So, what is the answer to the George Bailey question? Thank goodness we have MMRHS.
As it pertains to MMRHS, the question I most often hear is “How can we afford to replace MMRHS?” The right question is “How can we afford not to replace MMRHS?”
I acknowledge that the question “How can we afford not to replace MMRHS” employs a bit of rhetorical flourish. A smaller gain on the sale of a house years from now matters little if you cannot afford the very actual cost today—that is, unrealized gains and losses do little to fund quarterly tax payments. The very real concern we all face is affording increased property taxes today. So, the critical question now is “How concerned should we be about a potential increase in property taxes to pay for the replacement MMRHS?”
When it comes to understanding the cost to replace MMRHS, there has been no more thoughtful analysis than the one prepared by Stockbridge Select Board member Patrick White, which can be found here. Mr. White and I discussed the “real cost” of replacing MMRHS. I asked for Mr. White’s help in assessing the costs to taxpayers should we approve (as I think we should) the bond measure to fund the school’s replacement. Bottom line, what are the costs to Great Barrington taxpayers following a bond sale?
Mr. White has analyzed how the replacement project would impact taxes in Great Barrington (and the other two towns in the district as well). He is assuming the cost of around $112 million, and that Great Barrington will be responsible for about 53 percent of the cost. Based on current interest rates, Great Barrington would need to borrow about $59 million. How that $59 million breaks down on a yearly basis is computed for various assessed values in Mr. White’s article. While that headline number is, well, not great, let us also say “thank goodness” for long-term bonds issued at municipal tax-free rates.
My questions to Mr. White all focused on one issue: Is the cost to replace MMRHS nearly as bleak as everyone seems to think? Fortunately, Mr. White’s answer was a resounding “no.” Mr. White explained as follows:
- “This is a fixed price annual payment. This becomes a better deal every year due to inflation. You can expect over the lifetime of this borrowing to see that the real value of the annual cost of servicing the debt is about a quarter in year 30 as it in year one.”
- “New growth will offset the impact on any given taxpayer. New growth comes in two forms. It comes in teardowns—every time someone pulls a building permit, the assessor comes in and assesses the house. Any modifications from a kitchen upgrade to a bigger, fancier house—every time you build, your property value goes up. The increased value of a home being renovated lowers the taxes for everyone else. Every time you take an empty lot and build on it, you lower the taxes on everyone else. If you put in an ADU and turns it into an Airbnb, it lowers people’s taxes.”
- “We already have in place a mechanism to make taxes more affordable, it is called the residential exemption. It is a tool that the legislature just doubled down on, increasing the amount of the exemption to up to 50 percent for ‘seasonal communities.’ If a community is worried about affordability and choosing between clean water, a high school, and paying property taxes, they damn well have better adopted the residential exemption first before asking people to choose between being able to afford their house and having clean water and being able to afford any high school.”
Having answered the George Bailey question, we now wind up somewhere between Chicken Little and Cassandra. No doubt during the earlier efforts to renovate MMRHS, Chicken Little supporters said, “The sky is falling,” if the town did not renovate the school. Well, maybe the sky is not falling, but we have reached a point where the ceiling tiles are falling and the roof will be falling soon enough. And you need not be blessed with Cassandra’s gift of prophecy—simple Google searching will suffice—to know that our future will be bleak without MMRHS.
As you consider these questions, please also consider Mr. White’s confidence that we can actually afford to replace MMRHS. And I will hope you will conclude, as I have, that we cannot afford not to replace MMRHS.
Survey Monkey Question
Here is a link to the following Survey Monkey poll: “Due to the significant educational, social, and economic benefits Monument Mountain Regional High School provides Great Barrington, do you agree that failing to replace MMRHS will diminish our community?”
Survey Monkey Results
Here is the result of the following recent survey question: “Should our communities provide funding to Southern Berkshire Ambulance to enable an additional paramedic-staffed ambulance at all times?”
As of publication, 78.38 percent of respondents said “yes.”
Days Great Barrington has wrongfully withheld Community Access Fees: 286
