SOUTHWICK – The school committee held their bi-weekly meeting on Tuesday night at a different venue than their usual meeting spot in the conference room of the school district office.
All seven members of the committee along with Superintendent Jennifer Willard and School Business Manager Stephen Presnal, held their meeting in the auditorium of the Powder Mill School.
The larger venue allowed for parents, families, teachers, and so others to attend the meeting that would discuss the school feasibility study that the Southwick Regional School District has been partaking in for several months.
John Kennedy of NESDEC (New England School Development Council), a consultant who is representing the company, is helping the school district with the study.
Kennedy came in front of the school committee on Tuesday night to talk about what he has found in the study that could eventually have an impact on the Granville Village School, one of four schools in the district.
The school committee was able to see three major areas of the study that Kennedy looked at, which includes demographic analysis, enrollment projection, and capacity analysis.
The demographic analysis featured the baby-boomer population and what are their specific needs in contrast to millennials when it comes to residing in a community.
The school committee will be deciding in the near future on whether to close the Granville Village School or maintain it. (WNG File Photo)
Looking at the enrollment projections, Kennedy laid out the historical enrollment since the 2006-07 school year in the district.
In the 2006-07 school year enrollment for the district was 1,904. Fast forwarding to this school year, 2016-17, enrollment has declined to 1,580. According to the projected enrollment data that Kennedy found, the district’s enrollment will decline to 1,324 by the 2026-27 school year.
Capacity analysis was then a major discussion as the school committee has to decide what to do with their buildings. Going in depth with the capacity analysis, Kennedy found all of the current operating capacities and planned operating capacities for each school.
Granville Village School has 167 students and planned operating capacity is up to 211 students. Woodland Elementary School operates with 380 kids while they can hold up to 424. At the Powder Mill School, 512 students is the current enrollment and the planned operating capacity could be as great as 637.
With all of the research and discoveries that NESDEC compiled, Kennedy then presented the school committee with two options.
The first option would be that the school district closes Granville Village School and the building would be for another use in the district.
Laying out some of the advantages, Kennedy noted that it is estimated that the school budget would go from $977,580 to $957,000 in anywhere from one to three years after the change has been made.
The closing of the school would allow several parts of the building to be replaced, including the roof, windows, the asphalt driveway, parking lot, an oil storage tank, and more.
Listening to the advantages, Willard is also aware of the concerns several parents and teachers in Granville may have with closing the school.
“They lose a school in their community and that’s hard,” said Willard.
There are also challenges that come along with closing the school which includes increased travel time for parents and students of Granville, as well as the cost of transportation becoming more expensive.
NESDEC’s second option to the school committee would be that they maintain the Granville Village School.
Advantages with deciding that option include keeping the school in the Granville community, saving the travel time for parents and students, as well as taking away any added transportation costs.
Before making a decision on which option to choose, the school committee still has a couple more steps to take.
A public forum will be held at the Southwick Regional school auditorium on Nov. 28. This forum will allow anyone in the communities of the school district to voice their opinion on the issue.
Superintendent Jen Willard and the school committee are looking at the findings discovered from the school feasibility study. (WNG File Photo)
After that, the committee will have Kennedy come back again. Once a decision is ready to be made, all seven school committee members will vote. As Willard and Presnal aren’t members of the committee, they can’t vote. The vote needs to be a two-thirds majority vote.
Regardless of which decision will be made, Willard wants to have an open discussion.
“We’re trying to be as transparent as possible,” said Willard. “We’re trying to get everybody involved.”
As Select Board members Russ Fox and Joe Deedy were present to observe the discussion, there was a positive reaction from NESDEC’s presentation.
“I think they did a very thorough analysis,” said Fox. “Any decision that the school committee makes is going to be a tough decision.”
Despite whichever decision the school committee ends up making in the near future, Willard will support it and is confident it will match what the district is trying to strive for.
“We want to make sure we are planning for the future, not just today.”
