Pittsfield's Morningside School Faces Potential Closure
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It may be near the end of the road for Morningside Community School.
On Monday, the Pittsfield Public Schools held the first of three community meetings to solicit feedback about the possible closure of Morningside for the 2026-2027 school year and redistribution of its students to other city schools. Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips emphasized that no decision has been made, and that the conversation is centered on student success.
The community school was built in the mid-1970s with an open classroom concept. Morningside serves about 374 students and has a 7 percent accountability score, outperformed by 93 percent of the state. For fiscal year 2027, the district has allocated about $5.2 million for the school, according to a budget presentation given earlier this month.
"The question is, even with all of these resources that we have allocated to the building, is that going to be the game changer for the students in the building? That's the question that I posed to your educators, and that's the question that I also want to pose to families," Phillips said.
"If you put all these resources into the building, is that what's going to turn the corner for student success, or is closing Morningside and offering opportunities in other buildings going to be the better option for your students? We're also having this conversation because this building doesn't have walls."
She recognized that the meeting, which had a considerable turnout, likely included parents who attended Morningside before their children and said this decision would not be taken lightly. Students from the closed school would attend Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams based on available space and defined boundaries.
Phillips acknowledged that this conversation is not just about a building's possible closing, but a community center's closing.
"It's also about your children's future," she said.
Parents brought up concerns over the availability of after-school and before-school programs at the other schools, specifically the "Kids Club," transportation, maintaining diversity if children are dispersed to different schools, and more.
"I'm very familiar with a lot of these staff and a lot of the people in this community, and that's what it is. It's a community," said Vicki Corl, a parent who went to Morningside and worked there.
Pittsfield has another open concept school, Conte Community School, that is planned to consolidate with Crosby Elementary School, and possibly Stearns Elementary School, in a new building on the Crosby site by 2030. Phillips said there are no plans for Morningside, but at some point, this decision would have to be made.
The recommendation to close Morningside would go to the School Committee, and a formal hearing would be scheduled.
About 63 percent of PPS students identify as low income, and at Morningside, more than 80 percent of students identify as low income. More than 88 percent of Morningside is identified as "high needs," compared to 71.5 percent district-wide.
The student body is diverse, with nearly 40 percent of students identifying as Hispanic or Latino, 20 percent of students identifying as Black or African American, and 11 percent of students identifying with multiple races.
Nearly 27 percent of students' first language was not English, and more than 24 percent of students are English learners.
The school was in the 8th percentile for accountability in 2023, the 6th percentile in 2024, and the 7th percentile last year. Phillips pointed out that a majority of Morningside students are in high-risk benchmarks for early reading; 71 percent of kindergartners are at critical risk.
Behavioral incidents are also significant, with Morningside's incident logs equal to the combined behavioral logs for three of the schools that would receive students.
"The walls are significant because when there are behavioral challenges in particular, it doesn't impact just one classroom," Phillips said, pointing to the suites that have four classrooms on each side with a divider.
The four elementary schools were identified to welcome Morningside students if the school closed because the populations are "much" lower and the buildings are underutilized. Allendale has 39 percent accountability, Capeless has 43 percent accountability, Egremont has 51 percent accountability, and Williams has 79 percent accountability.
Phillips said low performance has nothing to do with intellect; it just has to do with preparation.
The administration recently previewed a $87.2 million FY27 budget to the School Committee that was developed using a Fair Student Funding formula that shifts away from a traditional staffing-based budgeting to student-based budgeting, and bolsters the community schools. The district is facing a $4 million shortfall.
The goal for Monday's meeting was to share data and hear what families were feeling. Additional meetings will be held at Morningside on Thursday, March 26, from 8:15-9:15 a.m. (student supervision will be available at 8:15 for parents/guardians attending the morning meeting) and on Thursday, March 26, from 4-5 p.m.
"I do want to share with you that if we weren't seeing this data, we probably would not be here right now to have this conversation," Phillips said.
Tags: Morningside, Pittsfield Public Schools, school closures,
