PITTSFIELD, Mass. — If the School Committee decides to proceed with the middle school restructuring in the fall, students will see changes in bus schedules and, in turn, bell schedules. 

Potential busing and instructional models were outlined during a special meeting at Reid Middle School on Monday. The effort is nearing its Dec. 10 checkpoint when the School Committee will decide whether to begin moving into an upper elementary and junior high model, with Grades 5-6 in one school and 7-8 in another, or to push it off another year. 

"These are the three key parts that I believe impact when we should begin this restructuring. The first is transportation, the second is negotiations, and the third is a transition budget," interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips told the School Committee. 

As previously reported, the district would be unable to continue its two-tier busing system that drops off high schoolers at 7:15 a.m., middle schoolers at 7:20 a.m., and elementary schoolers at 8:40 a.m. With a three-tier system, there would be 45 minutes between each drop-off and shifted start and end times. 

The Pittsfield Public Schools has 690 students enrolled in Grades 4 and 5 who would attend Herberg Middle School next year, and 601 students in sixth and seventh grade who would go to Reid Middle School. Phillips reported that the transportation team ran sandbox scenarios on these numbers. 

"It has been a lengthy process, but it was important to take the time," she said. 

"The transportation team had to identify glitches in the system, things that they had not anticipated finding, but that needed to be solved in order for us to come up with an accurate route for our students." 

Bus rides were shortened in the simulated routes, most around 45 minutes compared to the current 60-minute route, but this is contingent on start and end times changing. High schools would have to start a little earlier, and elementary schools would be picked up a little later, Phillips reported. 

The district would not need to hire additional bus drivers, but operators of the city's 25 school buses would need to work an additional hour. 

The interim superintendent reported that fifth-grade instructional models are inconsistent across the district, meaning that in some schools, one teacher covers all of the subjects, and others have two teachers handling two subjects, or just one subject. 

For the 5/6 campus at Herberg, 2 two-teacher teams would exist in a four-teacher hallway neighborhood. One teacher would handle math and science, and another would teach English language arts and social studies. 

The planning team anticipates classes of about 22 students. 

"You're moving from a small school into a big building, but your schedule is not having you go all over the building," Phillips explained. "Your schedule is having you transition within a small team, preparing you to have more teachers and to have classes across the school building." 

PPS parents have brought forward concerns about their children rotating among multiple teachers too soon, as well as growing up too soon.  

The 7/8 campus would have five teacher teams for ELA, math, science, and social studies. Students would also have two electives each day throughout a seven-period schedule, with the option for honors courses in math and ELA. Phillips said the seventh/eighth-grade model is not that different from what is currently in place, but they are looking to roster students so that they can be placed in classes based on what they need. 

She is confident that the district will have the resources for moving, such as paying custodians or a contractor to move items between schools, and purchasing supplies. A moving company quoted about $20,000. 

Mayor Peter Marchetti said they need to look at kindergarten through Grade 4 to ensure there is uniformity across Pittsfield schools. 

"Because it doesn't do any good to put everyone on the same level playing field at fifth grade if they already get there and one's in left field, one's in center field, one just hit a home run," he said. 

"It's not going to work for us. So I think those are the pieces that I want to just see solidified as we go forward." 

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