At one time, every small town had its own elementary school, some more than one. Certainly, the nation’s population boom after World War II warranted them.
Then came regionalization, where towns came together as a way to have their own middle and high schools, plus share districtwide costs. It made sense to combine.
Many districts are fully regionalized — from pre-K to high school. A school committee, with representatives from the participating towns, makes decisions for all the schools. That can include closing them.
Unarguably, this is not an easy time for schools what with constantly rising costs — salaries, special education, bus transportation — and for rural schools, insufficient state aid. Student populations in many small towns continue to fall due to changing demographics and parents opting to send their children elsewhere via school choice.
Earlier this year, Pioneer Valley Regional School Committee voted to close Leyden’s Pearl Rhodes Elementary School for economic reasons. Not enough children attended to justify keeping it open. Plus, the district is grappling with a $450,000 deficit.
The committee may also close Warwick Community School — already two votes were held this year. The school will open this fall, but residents see it’s a matter of time when it, too, is closed.
A major sentiment among residents is that losing their school would make the town less attractive to families.
So, Warwick is considering its options. Recently, its Selectboard established an advisory committee to explore what might work for the town. The group held its first meeting Tuesday.
One option would be to break away from Pioneer to join the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District although it is unknown whether it would welcome Warwick.
Or Warwick could join the elementary-only Union 28 District, in which the towns have control over their individual schools. The town would have to make an arrangement for grades seven through 12. Other options: Warwick could become a charter school or it could stay where it’s at.
Except for staying put, these are complicated processes that would certainly incur costs.
Our suggestion is that Warwick meet with other towns who have undergone similar situations.
One town to consider is Worthington in Hampshire County, where the seven-town Gateway Regional School District consolidated its elementary schools and closed the town’s Russell H. Conwell School in 2010. In response, parents re-opened Conwell as a private school.
Then, the town went through the state Legislature to leave Gateway and reopen Conwell as an independent public school with its own superintendent and school committee five years later. Worthington joined Hampshire Regional School District for students attending the upper grades. (The elementary schools in the Hampshire district have similar arrangements.)
That didn’t happen without hard work, legal fees and ultimately, an increase in taxes. When the town voted to leave Gateway, the change was expected to hike property taxes by 12.5 percent or $400 to the average single-family tax bill.
Then, there is the hilltown of Cummington, which also lost its elementary school. The town began the process of leaving the Central Berkshire School District but not fast enough as it is on the hook for the construction of a $72.7 million high school.
For Warwick, the decision comes down to this: is it worth the effort and money to keep its elementary school open? This is a topic certainly up for serious discussion by its residents.