CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The School Committee is holding off on opening any school choice slots until next fall. 

 

The committee made the decision last week after reviewing enrollment numbers that show most grades are at or near the preferred number of 18 students for the upper grades and 16 for the lower. 

 

The only grades without school choice students are pre-kindergarten through one, and Principal Tara Barnes cautioned that those grades may see an increase in resident children. 

 

"This is such a shift from when I started here," said Barnes, who joined Clarksburg in 2015. "If you look down [at a graph she provided] you can see seventh to eighth grade, we have more students from the town coming to the school and I think that speaks volumes."

 

Officials are projecting an enrollment this fall of about 191 students of which 44 are expected to be school choice. There is one in Grade 2, six in Grade 3, and seven each in Grades 4-8 with the exception of Grade 5, which has nine. 

 

Barnes said they try to keep abreast of the number of children moving into the community and there may be one or two still out there, plus she noted there are three houses for sale in Clarksburg right now.

 

"We don't know who's moving in and we always people who show up and register over the summer," she said. 

 

If the numbers don't change, there's the potential for one or more school-choice slots in some grades, including Grade 5 that will be split into two classes of 15 each. 

 

Barnes also noted that eight school-choice students will be graduating at the end of this year that will affect the amount of revenue coming in.  

 

Kindergarten, with 13 children, has potential space but Superintendent John Franzoni thought it was worth holding off for now.

 

"Kindergarten is always a concern because a lot of times families don't register in time so I'm going to suggest that we hold up in kindergarten," he said. "If there's no one going in by August certainly we could add a couple of kindergarteners but I think I would wait until then before opening any slots." 

 

The committee also agreed that the preschool should be split into ages 3 and 4. The projections for the fall are nine 3-year-olds and 13 4-year-olds. The town funded the preschool at last year's town meeting. 

 

Barnes said the needs of 3-year-olds is very different from those even a year older. She also noted those numbers could change because there are rolling admissions for any in that age group on an individualized education plan.

 

The plan is to move the special education intervention program into the Student Support Center room and the 3-year-olds into the special ed space. Barnes said the support center would be a loss but in balancing needs, she thought the younger children were a priority at the moment. 

 

The school will think of ways to give children the support they need to de-escalate without dedicating a room for it full time, the principal said. 

 

The rooms are smaller than the average classroom so based on state standards, the space in question can serve 8 1/2 children so would be limited to nine. The 3-year-olds come twice a week and that now could be extended into four half-days. The 4-year-olds are already coming four days a week.

 

"We think we can be flexible with how we're looking at this to make sure that we're not overcrowding a 3-year-old space and we're meeting everyone's needs and another one turning 3 in March," Barnes said. "I think we can creatively utilize some in house staff and reallocating some of our resources to be able to do a half-day program four days a week."

 

But she added that the budget is tight and they have been looking at how they can shift staff around and reallocate resources but it would likely mean another teaching assistant. She said there's the potential for fees to offset costs or to see if the town will support the program. 

 

Chair Laura Wood asked why not five half-days? Barnes said that was also a budgetary issue. 

 

"I think the town has to ask yourself a lot of questions. You've got all these 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds moving into town. Where do you want to put money in the town? In your school budget? Do you want to prioritize this or do you want to prioritize something else?" she said. "That's a town question to ask and to answer." 

 

The principal also updated the committee on the "March Madness Mondays" of fun activities to help the students through the long month, including getting to throw a pie in staff members' faces, building things with marshmallows and spaghetti and learning how to pass marbles just using construction paper. 

 

• The school was a grant in partnership with Boston College for its science curriculum. The $19,700 over three years will go toward supplies for the middle school science teacher and professional development. Teacher Audrey Witter will be attending an award lunch in Boston on April 26. The school is seeking to partner with North Adams Public Schools so Witter will have a group to work with. 

 

• The Student Council is working with the state's Safe Routes to School to consider dropoffs at the nearby town field. An SRS consultant will be at the school in the spring to review the routes. 

 

• The school has not had a COVID-19 in four weeks. The last cases, three during winter break, were not transmitted through the school. "It feels really good to not spend a lot of time talking about this," said Barnes. 

 

• The committee met briefly with Thomas Bona and Robert Norcross, who have spearheaded the volunteer repair work at the school. They would like to prioritize what projects are left that they might do. Franzoni said he would like to get together with the town on the status of a grant through the Americans With Disabilities Committee. The school wants to replace the lift to the upper grades or possibly install an elevator. Norcross said he is still hopeful for the release of state funding for the roof. 

 

The school's also spent $665,142 from the regular budget, the half-million dollars it got from the debt exclusion and state and federal grants. The items addressed included the new secure front entrance, accessible bathrooms, carpeting, water tank replacement, new boilers, security and public address system, plumbing, electrical panel, and the renovation of the shared space with the library. 

 

"It's been a really great partnership between the town and the school," said Barnes. "Taxpayer money has been hard at work in this building."