Pioneer school district to reinitiate talks of moving sixth grade to middle, high school

By CHRIS LARABEE

Staff Writer

Published: 07-23-2024 10:13 AM

NORTHFIELD — Three years after the idea was tabled, the Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee voted to reinitiate discussions regarding the transition of the district’s sixth grade classes from the elementary schools up to Pioneer Valley Regional School.

The prospect of bringing the sixth grade classes up to the middle and high school was previously considered in 2021, but the School Committee voted to postpone the matter because it felt it could not meet a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) deadline for answering the state’s questions. At the same time, the district was going through a leadership change, as Superintendent Patricia Kinsella had only recently joined the district at an interim level.

With district leadership solidified and a long-term facilities plan in place, Kinsella requested the School Committee move forward with exploring a potential transition at the committee’s July 18 meeting.

“I think it would make sense for the district, at this point, to reopen the conversation, do it well, do it in a transparent way and really bring in people,” Kinsella said, emphasizing the progress the district has made in steadying itself in recent years. “We have three strong principals now in place, our money is much more clear and we’re doing a better job with staffing levels.”

One of the most important developments in the last three years is the completion of the facilities master plan in January, which resulted in the School Committee voting to move forward with the exploration of a one-campus plan for the district. The proposed plan would bring all of the district’s students under Pioneer Valley Regional School’s roof and would allow Northfield and Bernardston elementary schools to be repurposed by their respective towns.

“Something like a grade configuration is better and more productively addressed when it is embedded in a larger conversation about things like facilities and long-term planning,” Kinsella said, noting that the district will explore the potential pros and cons of a transition, as well as possible financial impacts.

While discussion was brief, School Committee members said they were open to taking another look at the transition because of the district’s improved stability and financial health. Members who served on the committee at that time, including Michele Giarusso and Chair Reina Dastous, said they voted against it because of the lack of a solid plan.

“I’m not opposed to it, if I hear the rationale and the data,” Giarusso said. “There wasn’t a real written plan. … That’s why I voted against it last time, there wasn’t much I could go for.”

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Dastous added that she “felt it was rushed” in 2021.

With the School Committee’s approval for the district to move forward with reinitiating discussions about moving the sixth grade to Pioneer, Kinsella wrote in a memo that the district will chart out an outreach process with the school community that will allow folks to collaborate and share their thoughts and concerns about the process.

The goal, the memo adds, is to bring a final recommendation to the School Committee for a vote in December 2024 or early January 2025, which would allow time for the schools to prepare for a transition that could happen as early as September 2025.

If the district and School Committee opt to move forward with the transition, final approval from DESE would be needed to proceed.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.