BCC 40 Under 40 Winners to be Honored

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC), together with partners 1Berkshire and Mill Town Foundation, will honor the winners of its annual 40 Under Forty Awards on Wednesday, March 18 at 5 p.m. in the Robert Boland Theater, located on the main campus at 1350 West Street.
 
Tickets are $40 per person (free for award winners and one guest per winner) and may be purchased online at www.berkshirecc.edu/40-tix. Proceeds benefit support Workforce and Community Education programs at BCC, addressing immediate needs and helping to build a lasting endowment. 
 
According to a press release:
 
40 Under Forty celebrates talented people in the Berkshires, under the age of 40, who have a deep dedication to improving the quality of life for those living and working in our community. Nominees, who hail from throughout Berkshire County, are eligible for the award through their professional work and how it makes a difference, their personal commitment to their community, or other efforts to improve the quality of life for those living and working the Berkshires. 
 
Mill Town Foundation will promote purposeful giving by funding each 40 Under Forty Award winner with $1,000 to re-grant to an eligible Berkshire-based nonprofit organization. 
 
The winners, along with their non-profit of choice to receive the $1,000 funding, are: 
  • Lilia Baker, Volunteers in Medicine, donating to ViM Berkshires 
  • Jillian Bamford, On Pointe Barre & Fitness Studio, donating to No Paws Left Behind 
  • Haley Barbieri, Ventfort Hall Gilded Age Mansion and Museum / Shakespeare & Company, donating to Lenox Library Association 
  • Patrick Becker, General Dynamics Mission Systems, donating to Craneville Elementary - PTO 
  • Deirdre Bird, Dri Umbrellas, donating to The Denise Kaley Fund for Berkshire County Women with Cancer at BTCF 
  • Miranda Bona, Fuss & O'Neill, Inc., donating to Jacks Galore 
  • Amanda Carpenter, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, donating to Youth Center Inc. 
  • Lindsay Cornwell, Second Street Second Chances, Inc. / Berkshire County Sheriff's Office, donating to Elizabeth Freeman Center 
  • AJ Cote, Food Pantries of the Capital District, donating to Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc. 
  • Charlotte (Linden) Crane, Berkshire Community College, donating to CBRSD - Wahconah Regional High School CPR program  
  • Jessie Downer, Lamacchia Realty, donating to Strong Little Souls 
  • Michael Duffy, Pittsfield Public Schools – Taconic, donating to Temple Anshe Amunim 
  • Devan Gardner, Greylock Federal Credit Union, donating to Berkshire Lyric 
  • Christa Gariepy, Berkshire Health Systems, donating Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires (the Seed Room) 
  • Alexander Hernandez, Berkshire Medical Center, Somos Berkshires, donating to Katunemo Arts and Healing (Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. as its fiscal sponsor) 
  • Hilary Houldsworth, Elder Services of Berkshire County, Inc., donating to Elder Services of Berkshire County, Inc. 
  • Keytoria Jenkins, United States Postal Service and Keys with Keytoria, donating to Choices Mentoring Initiative 
  • Tom Jorgenson, Berkshire Athenaeum, donating to Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County 
  • Amanda Lardizabal, Berkshire Community College, donating to Berkshire Humane Society 
  • Emma Lenski, Berkshire Pride / Collaborative Endeavors, LLC / Indie Readery & Records, donating to Berkshire Pride 
  • Molly Lovejoy, Railroad Street Youth Project, donating to Railroad Street Youth Project 
  • Kaitlyn Maloy, Berkshire Medical Center, donating to Berkshire Health Systems Nursing Residency 
  • Sheetal Manerkar, Berkshire Medical Center, donating to Elder Services of Berkshire County, Inc. 
  • Zachary Marcotte, Berkshire Money Management, donating to Berkshire Humane Society (Community Cat Program) 
  • Stephanie Maselli, Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter Public School, donating to Williamstown Youth Center 
  • Charell McFarland, Community First Therapy and Consulting, LLC, donating to R.O.P.E (Rites of Passage & Empowerment Inc) 
  • Molly Merrihew, WAM Theatre, donating to Latinas413 
  • Travis Mille, ConvenientMD Urgent Care, donating to BFAIR 
  • Octavio Miranda Nallin, Amici Berkshires, donating to Litnet 
  • Kaitlyn Moresi, BFAIR, donating to Love of T Foundation 
  • Kaci Nowicki, Greylock Federal Credit Union, donating to Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention 
  • Katherine Oberwager, Baystate Medical Center, donating to Pediatric Developmental Center 
  • Erik Ray, MountainOne Bank, donating to Youth Center Inc. 
  • Nicholas Russo, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, donating to Zion Lutheran Church 
  • Brianna Sabato, Pittsfield Public Schools, donating to Berkshire Running Foundation 
  • Alyssa Sakowski, Berkshire County Head Start, donating to Berkshire County Head Start 
  • Sierra Shehemi, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, donating to MS Support Foundation 
  • Brittany Sumner, Berkshire ABA, donating to Families Like Ours (FLO) 
  • Austin White, County Ambulance, donating to Emergency Medical Service Committee of Berkshire County 
  • Emily Zelenovic, Law Office of Emily Zelenovic, donating to Construct Inc. 
 

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Pittsfield School Committee OKs $87M Budget for FY27

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee has approved an $87 million budget for fiscal year 2027 that uses the Fair Student Funding formula to assign resources. 

On Wednesday, the committee approved its first budget for the term. Morningside Community School will close at the end of the academic year and is excluded. 

"This has been quite a process, and throughout this process, we have been faced with the task of closing a $4.3 million budget deficit while making meaningful improvements in student outcomes for next year," interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said. 

"Throughout this process, we've asked ourselves, 'What should we keep doing? What should we stop doing? And what should we start doing?' I do want to acknowledge that we are presenting a budget that has been made with difficult decisions, but it has been made carefully, responsibly, and collaboratively, again with a clear focus first on supporting our students."

The proposed $87,200,061 school budget for FY27 includes $68,886,061 in state Chapter 70 funding, $18 million from the city, and $345,000 in school choice and Richmond tuition revenues.  It is an approximately $300,000 increase from the Pittsfield Public Schools' FY26 budget of $86.9 million. 

The City Council will take a vote on May 19. 

Thirteen schools are budgeted for FY27, Morningside retired, and the middle school restructuring is set to move forward. The district believes important milestones have been met to move forward with transitioning to an upper elementary and junior high school model in September; Grades 5 and 6 attending Herberg Middle School, and Grades 7 and 8 attending Reid Middle School. 

"I also want to acknowledge that change is never easy. It is never simple, but I truly do believe that it is through these challenges that we're able to examine our systems, strengthen our practices, strengthen our relationships, and ultimately make decisions that will better our students," Phillips said. 

Included in the FY27 spending plan is $2.6 million for administration, $62.8 million for instructional costs, $7.5 million for other school services, and $7.2 million for operations and maintenance. 

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland reported that they met with Pittsfield High School and made two additions to its staff: an assistant principal and a family engagement attendance coordinator.

In March, the PHS community argued that a cut of $653,000 would be too much of a burden for the school to bear. The school was set to see a reduction of seven teachers (plus one teacher of deportment) and an assistant principal of teaching and learning, and a guidance counselor repurposed across the district; the administration said that after "right-sizing" the classrooms, there were initially 14 teacher reductions proposed for PHS. 

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