BERNARDSTON — As the Pioneer Valley Regional School District charts its future through its own “Year of Learning” initiative and a regionalization planning board examines the feasibility of merging districts, Superintendent Patricia Kinsella is hosting a series of roundtables to hear from residents directly.

The first of these community discussions was held at the Bernardston Senior Center Tuesday afternoon, where Kinsella addressed the health of the school district and its finances in the wake of Warwick’s withdrawal.

“I’m most interested in the health of the district because it doesn’t seem very healthy now,” said resident Mark Fitzpatrick. “It seems like we’re losing students and staff; there’s only so much loss the district can take before it’s no longer a district.”

Kinsella said the school district, while losing the majority of its freshman class this year through School Choice and losing students in younger grades next school year to Warwick’s returning elementary school, is in a good spot because the historical enrollment decline of the district has leveled out. And, despite the small class of ninth graders, Kinsella said enrollment numbers across the board are increasing.

“It may be that we came to the end of losing students,” she said. “The health of the district is one of my primary concerns and I’m actually feeling pretty good about things.”

To further entice students to the district, Kinsella said Pioneer is also seeking to add a dedicated environmental educator to encourage students to learn about the world around them and is planning to reopen its woodshop for classes.

Additionally, Kinsella and Bernardston Town Coordinator Louis Bordeaux said there is potential for growth in Bernardston’s population of young families with children.

“There was some new construction in 2022 in Bernardston and some other houses that are ready to be built,” Bordeaux said, adding that the Selectboard has been focused on getting internet infrastructure built in areas of town that haven’t been served, which may entice younger people. “That is going to open up a lot of potential for younger families to move into town.”

Speaking about Warwick, which plans to relaunch its elementary school in the fall as an independent district, Kinsella said she hopes the town and Pioneer continue to have a positive working relationship. Financially, Kinsella said Warwick leaving is an $800,000 loss, due to losing the town’s assessment and state Chapter 70 funding, although it may not be a net loss because the town will need to pay roughly $17,000 in tuition for each Warwick student who chooses to attend middle or high school at Pioneer.

“We will get a chunk of money back, but we won’t know until September how many students from seven through 12 come back,” Kinsella explained.

Other topics Kinsella touched on during Tuesday’s roundtable were ideas for a facilities master plan, including how to use more of the woods around Pioneer for ecological learning; class sizes at the elementary schools, which remain strong, although Northfield will decrease by two classrooms due to Warwick students leaving; and the budget process for this year, which she said is “months and months and months” ahead of where it was last year.

The next stop in Kinsella’s conversation series will be at the Northfield Senior Center on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 11 a.m. She may also hold one in Leyden, although plans have yet to be confirmed.

As the school district plans its future and the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board continues its work looking at the feasibility of merging Pioneer with the Gill-Montague Regional School District, Kinsella said she is putting everything she has into ensuring Pioneer succeeds.

“For me, this is the last stop on my career and I’ve got all kinds of energy for this little district,” she said. “I have every intention of helping this district not just survive, but thrive.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

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