GRANBY — A concept for future school regionalization in the area that would include Granby students in Grades 7 to 12 is being floated by the School Committee.
At the request of the town’s Finance Committee, and with physical improvements needed at Granby Junior-Senior High School, School Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Bartosz recently sent letters to local school superintendents and school committees, including one that went to Amherst-Pelham Regional Committee Chairman Ben Herrington and Amherst Superintendent Michael Morris.
“After doing some initial research we understand that the most logical next step is to explore whether or not there may be another local community interested in being a partner in exploring regionalization,” Bartosz wrote in the communication.
Regionalization means a shared school for students from different towns. Similar letters also went to officials in Hatfield, Hadley and Belchertown.
The letter to Amherst cites declining enrollment and increased operational costs, along with the issues around building infrastructure, as reasons Granby would look into regionalization of Grades 7 to 12, and the possibility the town may hire a consultant to explore all educational options.
“Understanding whether or not there may be interest is critical to us determining our next steps for Granby and any potential partners,” the letter states.
There was also a request to fill out an online survey or contact the district’s administrative assistant.
But the communication also notes that Granby School Committee members feel “strongly that there is significant value in the town of Granby operating K-12 educational programming within and for our community.”
The Amherst Regional School Committee discussed the topic at its April 5 meeting and quickly rejected the appeal, in large part because members didn’t sense enthusiasm from the Granby School Committee.
Morris said while there can be hope in adding another community to the district that educates grades 7-12 students who live in Amherst, Shutesbury, Pelham and Leverett, he would have questions about having the district work out well with a new community.
“From a capacity perspective, I do wonder about how much capacity to put into this project,” Morris said.
Amherst representative Peter Demling said he was intrigued at the idea to leverage economy of scale, as there aren’t many such opportunities “to move the needle on the big things that affect the budget and the long-term trajectory of our schools.”
But Demling and fellow Amherst representative Allison McDonald said they wouldn’t wade into the discussion unless the Granby School Committee appears to be fully on board, and Amherst representative Irv Rhodes said he was puzzled how the letter could be sent out if Granby school officials don’t have buy-in.
Hatfield School Committee Chairwoman Rebecca Bench issued a response on the town’s behalf, according to Hatfield Superintendent Michael Wood, while Hadley Superintendent Anne McKenzie said the topic will be on the agenda for the Hadley School Committee’s April 25 meeting.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
