WARWICK — The Selectboard is asking the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to block the Pioneer Valley Regional School Committee from closing Warwick Community School.
Closures of Warwick Community School and Leyden’s Pearl Rhodes Elementary School are being considered by the School Committee in its efforts to make the district financially sustainable. But, per the special legislation that allows the School Committee to make that decision, any closures must ultimately be approved by the commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Jeffrey Riley.
“The commissioner needs to weigh the impact on the community against the miniscule savings that will be realized by the district,” said Selectboard Chairman Doc Pruyne.
In a letter to Commissioner Riley, the Selectboard argued that school closures will not address the underlying issues of the district’s financial problems, and that the lack of the school will be a long-term loss for both the town and the district.
The letter’s largest claim is that Pioneer’s costs for administration and employee benefits are the drivers of the district’s financial problems. A school closure, the Selectboard says, would not address these issues because no staff would be cut except for Principal Elizabeth Musgrave.
The only way to reduce administrative costs, the Selectboard says, would be to merge with multiple neighboring school districts. The potential merger with the Gill-Montague Regional School District, which is being tentatively discussed by local officials, would not be enough to create sufficient economies of scale, the Selectboard says.
If Warwick were to become part of a much larger district, the Selectboard says, it would likely need its local elementary school.
In the letter the Selectboard also claims that district administrators overestimate the potential savings of closing Warwick Community School and that alternative sources of revenue have not been fully explored.
The Selectboard also points out that an energy efficiency grant worth about $250,000 would not come through if Warwick’s school closes. School Committee members estimated that the upgrades that the grant would buy could save the district about $80,000 per year. The issue of potentially losing this grant has not been discussed extensively in School Committee meetings.