WARWICK — Inside the small library of Warwick Community School, residents in attendance at an information session on proposed regionalization on Thursday balanced optimism over the potential for increased student opportunity while expressing fear that a loss of autonomy might lead to future school closures.
As the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board continues its public outreach ahead of consequential Special Town Meeting votes this fall on a regional agreement that would enable the proposed merger of the Gill-Montague and Pioneer Valley regional school districts. Twelve Warwick residents attended Thursday’s session.
The proposed “super district” seeks to merge Bernardston, Gill, Leyden, Montague, Northfield and Warwick into one school district, called the Great River Regional School District. High school students from these towns would be educated at Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School, middle schoolers would occupy Pioneer Valley Regional School and elementary students would remain in their current buildings.
The new combined district would have around 1,500 students between preschool and 12th grade across eight buildings.
Inside the Warwick Community School library, teachers, parents and School Committee members shared their love for the school, built in 1999 as a tight-knit learning space for students in preschool through sixth grade in Warwick and surrounding communities.
The desire to preserve the unique character of the school and community was expressed by attendees who also noted fear over potential closure.
“What guarantees are there in this agreement that elementary schools won’t get closed?” asked Nathan Swartz, a Warwick resident and former Pioneer School Committee member.
The Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee had voted to close Warwick Community School in 2020, prompting Warwick to withdraw from the regional district and form its own independent Warwick School District to educate elementary-age students. Those in grades seven through 12 can still attend Pioneer through a tuition agreement. The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District also has a tuition agreement with Warwick to educate seventh through 12th grade students.
“We reopened our school and did everything that we [could] to make it successful,” Swartz recounted.
Alan Genovese, who chairs the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board and serves on the Warwick School Committee, explained the requirements in place for closing a school that are outlined in the proposed regional agreement, which he said “protect Warwick to the best of our ability.” The agreement, approved by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), states that a feasibility study would be required to analyze the implications of closure after five years, with multiple components, including educational impact, proposed reorganization of staff and students, and a fiscal analysis.
The regionalized district’s school committee must hold a public hearing on the feasibility study, and any vote would require support from at least 10 of the 13 members. At least four of the six towns would also need to vote to approve a school closure. If two-thirds of the member towns approve it by majority vote at Town Meetings, the school would close on June 30 of the following fiscal year.
As Genovese and Planning Board Vice Chair Greg Snedeker have said in previous information sessions outlining the plans for regionalization, data collected over the last six years paints a picture of declining enrollment in both districts, driving down educational opportunities for students and increasing financial burdens for member towns.
Compared to the 342 students enrolled at the other preschool through sixth grade schools of Bernardston Elementary and Northfield Elementary, only 27 students call Warwick Community School home after the town separated from the Pioneer Valley Regional School District in 2022. Data collected by the Planning Board over 30 years of enrollment demonstrates a decline of 47% and 56% in the Gill-Montague and Pioneer districts since 1998, respectively, with Warwick data included in the Pioneer data from the 1990s. Projections for future enrollment at both Gill-Montague and Pioneer also show a decline.
Financial costs for both districts have continued to grow while state aid through Chapter 70 remains steady, requiring towns to cover the remaining costs through local contributions, as state aid is tied to student enrollment.
“We have to start thinking about regionalization, one way or another,” Snedeker said.
“I think most of us know that regionalization will improve things,” Warwick School Committee member Louise Doud said. “I don’t think this agreement is what we need.”
Doud mentioned fears about the potential of Warwick losing unique class offerings under the leadership of a new school committee. Jumping off of her point, Swartz said he believes having a secondary school model like Mahar has for middle and high school education, while leaving the elementary schools independent, would be a better fit.
While Snedeker and Genovese stressed the issue of declining enrollment as the driving factor behind this regionalization effort, Snedeker shared that their role in Warwick was to share information and not dictate how residents should vote. Moreover, he sees the effort by the Planning Board as a win for the larger discussion of regionalization.
“I already see this as a win, whether or not this passes, because the conversation is changing,” Snedeker said. “The conversation is not about just money.”
The Six Town Regionalization Planning Board will continue to hold information sessions at the following dates, times and locations:
- Bernardston: Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center.
- Leyden: Thursday, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. at the Town Offices.
- Northfield: Saturday, Oct. 18, at 10 a.m. at Dickinson Memorial Library.
- Bernardston: Saturday, Oct. 25, at 10 a.m. at the Senior Center.
- Northfield: Thursday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. at Dickinson Memorial Library.
More information is available at 6towns.org.