Parents hoping to keep one of West Springfield's five elementary schools open have been thrown a lifeline.
During the West Springfield School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Will Reichelt announced that the town will plan to keep Mittineague Elementary open for another year.
The decision came after the committee voted in January to relocate Mittineague’s 140 students in a move to close the school, citing the costs of renovating the 150-year-old structure, among other factors.
The Jan. 9 vote came a month after residents filled the Justin Morgan Auditorium to voice concerns and frustration over the potential closure. The decision also led to organizers filing a petition to have officials reconsider the vote, or potentially make the matter a ballot question later in the year.
On Tuesday, Reichelt announced plans to keep Mittineague open amid signs that an upcoming committee vote would likely lead to the ballot scenario, putting the issue up for a town-wide vote while a new school year is already underway.
"For next year, Mittineague would stay open because the election wouldn't likely happen until after September,” the mayor said. “We have to plan now - our budget hearing is in the beginning of March on what it will look like next year, so we're planning for it to remain open."
Reichelt noted that the petition, which received some 2,700 signatures – 300 more than what was needed – would likely be certified by Tuesday, Feb. 20, and that a new school committee vote would occur a week later.
In the event the committee voted again to relocate students, the question would then appear on the ballot.
“It’s unbelievable that they were able to do that - but it shows how firmly they believe this is not in the good interest of the town,” West Springfield Town Councilor At-Large Dan O’Brien told WAMC last week.
Speaking a day after the petition was turned in, O’Brien emphasized how organizers had less than three weeks to meet a Feb. 8 deadline – something he called an “impossible task.”
O’Brien also filed an Open Meeting Law complaint regarding the matter, aimed at the subcommittee that ultimately recommended closing Mittineague.
The Student Population Projection Committee recommended closing the school in December 2023, after spending months reviewing a recent feasibility study.
Concluding that it would cost $19 million to renovate the school and that the building was valued at only $1.7 million, the subcommittee indicated closing the building dating back to the 1870s was in the town’s best interests.
However, O’Brien contends the subcommittee did not properly approve its minutes in a timely fashion over the span of eight months, and alleges they were all approved in a batch in late November.
“I researched the Open Meeting Law, and it says very clearly - that the minutes are to be posted in a timely manner,” O’Brien said. “And the law considers a timely manner by at least three sessions having been done. So, on the third session, you should be approving the first and second at least, or within 30 days.”
O’Brien’s complaint was brought up at Tuesday’s school committee meeting, with Reichelt saying that it was “unclear what the substance of this complaint is.”
The mayor said O’Brien’s description of the violation stopped mid-sentence and abruptly, and that the complaint was deficient.
WAMC obtained a copy of the complaint and noted that while reading the document on a device such as an iPhone, a large section of text was cut off.
However, what appeared to be the full text of the complaint could be seen on a laptop.
The matter was referred to the town attorney, with Reichelt saying additional information would be sought from the councilor.
Closing out the meeting was committee member Diana Coyne, who spoke at length about the past few months when it came to the Mittineague School vote.
Coyne, who had voted in favor of relocating students, said not only Mittineague, but other elementary schools in the district were aging and in need of renovations so extensive, updating them would total nearly $85 million.
Citing the feasibility study, the subcommittee previously found the $85 million figure was comparable to the $92 million that might go into a new facility like Philip G. Coburn Elementary.
Calling the petition drive a “remarkable grassroots effort,” she also expressed concerns that an opportunity to update aging infrastructure may now be in jeopardy.
She called on the public to consider the future of the town, as well as the nearly 4,000 students in the school district.
“We need to think towards the future and what that future should look like,” Coyne said. “I truly, truly hope that we can unify positively and thoughtfully as all our children deserve that.”
