LEYDEN — Talk of school closures continues to generate anxiety in Leyden and for the Pioneer Valley Regional School Committee, especially with a Feb. 1 deadline for a decision closing in.
A public forum at Pearl Rhodes Elementary School on Jan. 3 at 6:30 p.m. will address questions of how a merger of Leyden’s students into Bernardston Elementary School will be handled, if Pearl Rhodes is closed.
“It’s to try to let them know it would be done thoughtfully,” said Bob Clancy, principal of both Pearl Rhodes and Bernardston Elementary. Also at the forum will be Pioneer Superintendent Jon Scagel and members of the School Committee and the Leyden Education Council.
The deadline comes from the terms of the building lease, which requires six months’ notice if the town has to take back the building. So if the district wants to close Pearl Rhodes this year, a decision must be made within the next month.
Data from the HEART Committee (Honest Education and Retaining Trust), an advisory board for the School Committee, shows that Bernardston Elementary has the capacity for Leyden’s students. But, the urgency has led to more questions from residents and School Committee members, including how much staff would be retained, how transportation will be handled and how class sizes would be affected.
In all those regards, the priority will be to continue to serve the students at the same level, Clancy said. Scagel said that the relevant calculations have, for the most part, been considered by the administration and will likely be discussed at the forum.
“It’s a difficult decision that the School Committee has to come to,” Clancy said. “But that’s where the district is at.”
Contact Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com, or 413-772-0261 ex 261.