GREENFIELD — Residents, including some of the youngest members of the city, are asking the School Committee to carefully consider the impact that ending intradistrict School Choice would have on current choice students ahead of an anticipated vote next month.

“We have been in this school since kindergarten,” said Charlotte Cooley, 8, an intradistrict School Choice student attending Discovery School at Four Corners. “We’re mostly sad because we love Four Corners and really don’t want to leave. … This school is starting to feel like home to me and all my friends. I’m not sure how long it will take for Federal Street [School] to feel like I do at Four Corners.”

Charlotte’s friend, 8-year-old Adeh Kurland-Mellen, echoed a similar sentiment.

“We are safe and we have friends,” she said. “I’ve been to Federal Street School. I don’t feel at home there, neither do my friends. We will do whatever it takes to stay.”

Though a decision on how to handle intradistrict School Choice was anticipated last week, the School Committee delayed the vote until next month given the fact it “barely” had a quorum with only four of its seven members present.

The conversation comes as school officials begin to move forward on the redistricting plan. This could mean setting a hard deadline to end the practice of intradistrict School Choice — requiring students to return to their neighborhood school — or allowing students to age out of their chosen school while no longer allowing new participants, including siblings, to choice-in from within the district.

A hard stop at the start of the academic year in September 2024, when the changes are slated to go into effect, would mitigate the potential need for shifting the special education programs between schools, according to Superintendent Christine DeBarge. DeBarge previously said she’d only been allowing incoming kindergartners who would still have a sibling at their school of choice to go to a different school that’s not their neighborhood school.

Many who spoke during public comment last week, however, appealed to School Committee members to allow students to age out of their current school if such a new policy was adopted to discontinue the practice. Sean Pollock told the board his family opted to send their kids to Four Corners because of the nature trail, school garden and school-wide learning themes.

“The copious changes to Four Corners and Greenfield public schools over the past four years leaves us feeling like our children are enduring year after year of … changes,” Pollock said. “This all comes after a very destabilizing learning experience for children, who are at greater risk due to their developmental stages. We implore you to think about the impact this change could have on this generation of students … instead of just looking at your big-picture goals.”

Rose Skriloff, a teacher at Greenfield Middle School, also advocated for students to be phased out of their current school, as well as for the impact on staff to be considered, as officials look to move fifth grade to the elementary level and eighth grade to the middle school.

“I know there are a lot of moving pieces to it,” Skriloff said. “My only ask is that as you’re making those decisions, be very careful and considerate of the staff and the big changes they’re going to face. Logistically it’s going to work and be fine, but having to rebuild a culture with a whole new staff of the eighth grade team and losing the fifth grade team.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.