The West Springfield School Committee could potentially vote again on whether to close Mittineague Elementary School, thanks to a petition that received more than its required signatures.
On Jan. 9, the committee voted 4-2 to relocate some 150 students from Mittineague, after a subcommittee recommended the school’s closure a month earlier.
At a meeting in December, Superintendent Stefania Raschilla laid out how, among other factors, the Student Population Projection Committee found making necessary renovations to the school dating back to 1870 would not be “fiscally responsible.”
“The current value of Mittineague [Elementary] School is about $1.7 million and the cost to renovate it would be about $19 million," Raschilla said during the Dec. 12 school committee meeting. "Based on the cost of the needs, it would eventually need to close based on its age and the cost, not because it was ever deemed unsafe.”
At the same meeting, parents, students, and community members shared concerns over the school’s potential closure and its impact. Among them was Allison Hanson, who spoke of the school’s tight-knit community.
“The neighborhood, small school feeling of togetherness - I've never ever felt alone ,even as a solo parent of five,” Hanson said. “When I say ‘I don't want my kids to go to a different school,’ it's not just a building. It's a community, and that community is based in our neighborhood.”
The school committee ultimately voted in January to relocate students to neighboring schools, leading to a number of parents and community members voicing frustration over the speed of the decision.
Some locals went on to take out a petition to have the committee vote again, with the matter of closing Mittineague going on the next ballot if officials opted to close the school a second time.
Organizer and Mittineague parent Erin Placey tells WAMC that while their efforts still need to be verified, the petitioners were more than successful in getting the required 2,414 signatures by their Thursday, Feb. 8, deadline.
“We're past that 2,414, in terms of signatures that we've collected, which is a huge, huge effort and a wonderful testament to just all the teamwork that everybody's put in,” she said.
Placey, whose daughter attends the school, detailed concerns about the speed and scope of the committee’s decisions.
“It's also just the first domino in a line of a number of decisions that would ultimately change and alter the landscape of elementary education in West Springfield forever,” she said.
Another recommendation approved by the committee was a move toward building a new school to eventually replace both the Tatham and Memorial elementary schools and the John Ashley School, home to multiple kindergarten classes.
Voting 5-1 on Jan. 9, the committee also approved submitting a "Statement of Interest" to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for assistance in building a new facility.
A feasibility study previously found renovating all elementary schools identified in the study would cost at least $84 million, compared to the $92 million that would go into a new facility similar to another recently built school, Philip G. Coburn Elementary.
Taking part in the petition effort, Town Councilor Michael LaFlamme told WAMC last week that, at least when it comes to Mittineague, many locals think the decision ought to be put to a town wide vote, including those who agree the school should be closed.
"Even people that maybe think the school should close believe that this is such a big decision and such a change in direction of our school system that it's a question that should go on the ballot this November,” LaFlamme said.
West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt, who chairs the school committee, says the decision to close Mittineague was bound to be divisive and that he welcomes the community’s input.
“It's a small school - it's the only school left that is neighborhood walking,” Reichelt explained, referring to how Mittineague offers no school buses and that many students walk to it. “And I say small - I mean, class sizes of teens, low teens, compared to the rest of the district, which is in the higher teens. So, I'm not surprised by the reaction."
The mayor emphasized that recommendations to close Mittineague went back to at least 2005, and that the most recent study recommending its closure was conducted in 2022.
He also noted that plans to potentially close Mittineague were publicized in March 2023, and that the subcommittee created to explore possible impacts and make recommendations was created around the same time.
The committee’s now subject to an Open Meeting Law complaint submitted by West Springfield Councilor At Large Dan O’Brien, who contends that meeting minutes for the subcommittee were not approved in a timely fashion.
In response, the mayor said the matter would be brought up at the school committee's next meeting. Due to the pending approval of the petition's signatures, it’s not immediately clear when the next, potential Mittineague vote might happen.
