The Pittsfield, Massachusetts, public school committee has voted to close a city elementary school for high-needs students despite pleas from parents and educators to keep it open.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the body approved a plan to shutter Morningside Community School at the end of the school year in June. It is the first time a Pittsfield school has been closed since Pomeroy Elementary in 1985.
While the move comes as the city’s school system faces a $4 million budget shortfall, interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said it emerged from larger issues than funding alone.
“This is not something from this year or last year or the year before this. There are historical trends of performance within the building," she said. "In the memo, I also share that, while fiscal implications are included, the potential closure of the school is fundamentally driven by the student performance or learning conditions, the building inadequacy, and equitable student access, rather than the district's budget.”
Morningside community members spoke out emotionally against the plan at a series of public hearings this spring. Its roughly 400 students will be redistributed to other elementary schools in the Pittsfield system.
