Berkshire County — In a press release sent after seven towns held special town meetings to vote on a possible merged Berkshire Hills and Southern Berkshire Regional School Districts, Lucy Prashker, chairman of the Eight Town Planning Board, declared the defeat of a proposal that would have merged the school districts.
The special town meetings were held on Monday, Oct. 23 in Great Barrington, Alford, Sheffield, New Marlborough, West Stockbridge, Monterey, and Stockbridge.
Previously, on Saturday, Oct. 21, residents at Egremont’s special town meeting voted down the merger agreement by a vote of 143-78.
Residents at special town meetings who are all part of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District, including Monterey, New Marlborough, Sheffield, and Egremont all voted down the potential school districts merger, except for Alford, which approved the school district merger agreement.
Sheffield: 503 no votes – 99 yes votes.
New Marlborough: 165 no votes – 112 yes votes.
Egremont: 143 no votes – 78 yes votes.
Monterey 87 no votes – 79 yes votes.
Alford: 106 yes votes – 23 no votes.
Meanwhile, residents residing in towns in the The Berkshire Hills Regional School District, including Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge, all voted to approve the proposed school districts merger at their respective town meetings.
Great Barrington: 374 yes votes – 88 no votes.
Stockbridge: 107 yes votes – 14 no votes
West Stockbridge: 86 yes votes – 14 no votes.
With four towns approving the proposed school districts merger at their special town meetings, and with four towns rejecting the merger proposal, Prashker sent the following press release declaring the defeat of the school districts merger proposal:
“Our board thanks all who voted. Four towns have said yes and four have said no. With the exception of Alford, the SBRSD towns voted to go it alone. That split brings the work of our 8 town planning board to an end. But the challenges remain unsolved — the challenges of low and declining enrollment, the increasing burdens those declines place on our taxpayers, and, most importantly, the limiting of choices and opportunities for our children, We call on those town and district leaders who opposed the merger to step forward with a plan that addresses those problems. We need more than just ‘no’; we need positive action that looks to our children’s and community’s future.”
