DALTON, Mass. — Wahconah Regional High School will get one of the preschool programs operated in the Central Berkshire Regional School District. 

 

Kittredge Elementary School in Hinsdale runs two classrooms and the second program is operated out of Becket Washington School. They are tuition programs. 

 

The School Committee made the decision to relocate one of the Kittredge classrooms after a lengthy discussion on Thursday. 

 

The move will address feedback that the district has received from community members regarding accessibility and will provide more internship opportunities to Wahconah students. 

 

The district's preschool program is very healthy, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said, but schools are seeing more preschoolers with high needs coming out of the pandemic and that finding "high-quality preschool teachers and teaching assistants has been challenging."

 

One of the concerns from the community has been making the preschool program more accessible to families in Dalton, Cummington and Windsor.

 

Craneville Elementary School in Dalton had hosted a preschool program but it was moved to Kittredge five years ago. 

 

The school district also has a new early childhood dual enrollment course with Berkshire Community College. The Wahconah preschool will allow high school students to fulfill internship hours during the day.

 

A wall will have to be removed, a bathroom installed and classroom and playground equipment purchased to accommodate the new program. 

 

According to Skanska, the owner's project manager for the high school project, this change is estimated to cost approximately $100,000 to $150,000. This is a rough estimate as the district does not have an architect or designer on board yet. 

 

The costs will not affect the district's operating budget as its state Rural School aid has been  earmarked for the construction. The district received about $500,000 in rural aid, Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said. 

 

School Committee members raised concerns regarding the relocation, saying there is not enough data to show how the spaces in the new building are being utilized and they should postpone any changes until they have that data.  

 

Wahconah High was built two years ago and the plan that was written when the project first came to fruition was excellent, School Committee member Richard Lacatell said. 

 

"I just can't imagine making compromises to the building when it's so new and it's not clear what we're going to be using those spaces for in the future," Lacatell said. 

 

There are other ways to accomplish providing access to the dual enrollment program, he said. "This looks like the perfect solution but I'm afraid that perfect is going to be the enemy of the good here. 

 

"I think we ought to look at it carefully and maybe we could make something that's not perfect, but we don't have to tear a wall down and repurpose part of the school." 

 

Other committee members said the future is always unknown and that shouldn't stop them from making changes.

 

Committee member Art Alpert said it was a wonderful opportunity for high school students. He'd worked with students with behavioral issues who became more mature and better behaved after working with young children. 

 

Other committee members shared similar experiences.

 

"And we just heard from a couple of people who work with them, and seen that happen," added Alpert. "[I] worked in two different high schools where that was taking place. So I think there's a lot of evidence of what it can do.

 

"And having the relationship with [Berkshire Community College] and doing that, I think that's terrific work. The more you do that, the better this school becomes and more things it can offer. It's an opportunity, not a mistake."

 

Blake-Davis also added that she spoke to the executives at Massachusetts School Building Authority and they encouraged the district to use the building flexibly.

 

Another concern raised was where to place occupational and physical therapy equipment. The preschool program operates at a 7:8 ratio, with seven children with special needs to every eight in general enrollment.

 

Potential solutions that Blake-Davis noted included moving the equipment into the fitness room so there was more room to work and scheduling hours around the preschool. 

 

Although School Committee member Nicole Tucker agreed having the preschool would benefit the course, she was concerned that it would displace the students receiving therapy and their providers. 

 

"Being a [physical therapist] myself in a school and having nowhere designated to treat that ... is a challenge. I know that you said that space would be dedicated at times for treating those students," Tucker said. 

 

"You also are bringing in seven preschoolers who have disabilities. Of those seven, a good chunk of them are going to need PT and then an even greater chunk of them are going to need OT and I just can't picture OT being done in the fitness room. You need a quiet space, you need a dedicated space."

 

This is a major shift for the school so Blake-Davis said she will be looking into other school's models, including Taconic High School and Hampshire Regional High School, to see how they navigated the changes 

 

"When you're servicing or caring for medical needs for little tiny ones that's very different than high school students," she said. "So, yes, there would be a shift and all those things would have to be taken into consideration."

 

This change would not extend the building project, School Committee Chair Richard Peters said.