NORTH ADAMS — Plans to renovate Greylock Elementary College are on keep.
Citing declining enrollment projections and the risk of college consolidation, the town as an alternative is eyeing enhancements to Brayton Elementary School.
“There will be a stage in the upcoming three to 5 years in which the enrollments will have declined substantially enough to warrant consideration of consolidation within just a two-elementary-university procedure,” Superintendent Barbara Malkas informed the City Council at its conference Tuesday night time.
“It’s vital to notice that it is likely,” she added, “but it is not imminent.”
The Metropolis Council voted Tuesday night time to support a resolution authorizing the superintendent to post a statement of interest to the Massachusetts College Building Authority for renovations at Brayton Elementary Faculty.
For decades, the district experimented with to get Greylock on the state’s repair record, and it was acknowledged in 2019 to the authority university renovation and design pipeline — a application that can help schools renovate or develop new properties by giving them technological help and reimbursing some charges.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the district obtained an extension for the project’s eligibility period, Mayor Tom Bernard instructed the Town Council. But, given that then, Bernard explained, “the resolve was communicated to us that the specialized guidance staff that we labored with by means of authority would not advocate that a Greylock Faculty renovation or new design venture be highly developed into the feasibility stage,” Bernard reported.
“However, MSBA did point out they would be willing to hold us in eligibility and shift into feasibility with a target on renovation to Brayton,” he reported, “so, this would be upgrades and repairs fairly than a complete-scale renovation or a total-scale reconstruction project.”
Brayton, designed in the 1990s, is a newer setting up, Malkas said.
Renovation of that making would be additional expense-effective, she explained to The Eagle.
Opportunity repairs incorporate replacing the roof, the 30-12 months-old boiler, and home windows and doorways to enhance electrical power performance and college stability, Malkas wrote in a May perhaps letter to the MSBA.
Council President Jason LaForest asked if Greylock Elementary would survive structurally more than the coming a long time. Malkas stated yes, incorporating that the college proceeds to make investments in the constructing to maintain it.
Malkas explained she was not amazed by the MSBA’s enrollment projections.
“We have a declining enrollment in Berkshire County,” she explained to The Eagle.
As of April 1, the district experienced 654 learners at the elementary university level, and the authority’s 10-calendar year projected enrollment is 625 college students, she explained. “Based on the ability of Brayton and Colegrove [Park Elementary School], the offered seats were being determined as 716. So, the capability of our properties exceeds our projected enrollment.”
Like a lot of Berkshire County colleges, enrollment has declined about the earlier 10 years. In 2010, North Adams colleges had 1,520 college students, and by 2021, it had 1,143, in accordance to info from the Berkshire Regional Arranging Fee.
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