Colrain Central School News

• Just a reminder that the schedule in November is a little unusual. Please be sure you note the early dismissals and days on which school is closed.
• By now, you should be scheduled for a conference with your child's teacher. Our fall conferences take place this year on Thursday and Friday, November 12th & 13th. Please reach out to your child's teacher or Mrs. White if you are unsure when your conference is scheduled. This is an important time to touch base with the teachers and see the progress your child is making.
• This year, we are going to observe several Spirit Days over the course of the year. They will typically be held on the first Friday of the month. The first one will be on Friday, November 6th and will be "Wear Your Favorite Color" Day.

Each December we invite alumni back to share their post-Mohawk Trail Regional School experience with the current student body in a panel format. This year, we are shakin' things up!

Instead of hosting an Alumni Panel, we would like to host an "Opportunities Fair" where YOU, the Mohawk Trail Regional Alumni, are the reps! Yes, that's right - think tables with info about your college or training agency and, instead of an admissions rep behind the table - YOU are repping your school, program, or career. Whaddaya say? This event is scheduled for Monday, December 21 from 9 a.m. to 12:45 pm.

Are you in college or a recent grad? Perfect! - come set up a table representing your college. Working on a certificate or recently completed one? Great! - come set up a table representing your program. Did you enter the world of work? Love it! - come set up a table representing your employer.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_7XKITVcXnFqm5aMK-8iitBCmS0nFsN1jiuRRr5SPbXTeUA/viewform

Mary Lyon Foundation, Greenfield Savings Bank (GSB), and M&T Bank are partnering once again on the Holiday Giving Tree. Trees will be on display at the banks in Shelburne Falls starting the week of November 23 with a big celebration during Moonlight Magic to encourage community members to participate in gift giving through the Holiday Giving Tree.

Families can sign up to receive gifts for children this holiday season using this form. Please share the form with families in your school or community. The deadline for families to complete the form in time for an ornament to be added to the tree is end of day Wednesday, November 18.

ML Foundation staff and volunteers will deliver gifts to family homes between December 15 and December 22.

Kindly,

Liza, on behalf of Mary Lyon Foundation

• Save the date! Our Trunk or Treat event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 24th from 1:00-4:00 pm. We will need volunteers to help make this event a success. Please sign up here: Trunk or Treat Volunteers 2026 - Google Forms

November 2026 Update

Mohawk Trail / Hawlemont Regional School Districts Sustainability Study

Contact: H. Jake Eberwein, Project Manager (jakeeberwein@gmail.com)

The Mohawk Trail–Hawlemont Sustainability Initiative reached an important milestone at its October 15 meeting when the Steering Committee voted to endorse moving forward with a Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) feasibility study and to refer that recommendation to the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont School Committees for their consideration and approval. If supported by both School Committees, the next step would be to seek community authorization to fund the local share of the feasibility study, subject to the MSBA's eligibility requirements and timeline.

This recommendation follows more than two years of research, community engagement, and analysis examining how the districts can preserve and expand educational opportunities for students while addressing declining enrollment, rising costs, and long-term financial sustainability. The Steering Committee believes that moving into feasibility is the appropriate next step toward determining whether its preferred vision—a unified PreK–12 district organized around a single campus at Mohawk Trail—is educationally and financially practical.

What We're Hearing

What does the Steering Committee's endorsement of feasibility mean for our communities?

The Committee's recommendation is an important step forward, but it is not a decision to build a new school or final approval of a single-campus model. Rather, it reflects the Committee's conclusion that the next step should be a more detailed examination of what a consolidated campus could look like, what it would cost, and how it might best serve students.

During feasibility, the district’s School Building Committee would work with the MSBA and a professional design team to examine projected enrollment, educational goals, existing facilities, and space requirements. The process would develop and compare multiple consolidated-campus options, including renovation, new construction, and different configurations of grades and educational spaces, before identifying a preferred solution.

Feasibility is about learning our options. It would provide answers to many of the questions residents

are understandably asking—what should be built or renovated, what it would cost, how much the state might reimburse, and how different options would affect students and communities. These are questions that cannot yet be answered with certainty.

What would feasibility cost, and when would communities begin paying for a project?

The Steering Committee has been using approximately $1.2 million as a preliminary planning estimate for a feasibility study. The actual cost would be determined through the MSBA process once the scope of work is established. The MSBA is expected to reimburse a substantial portion of eligible expenses (over 60%), reducing the local share. Consistent with the MTRSD Regional Agreement, costs would be apportioned among the 8 towns based on each town's percentage of its 5-year rolling average enrollment at the Mohawk Trail Regional School.

It is important to distinguish between the cost of feasibility and the cost of a future construction project. A feasibility vote would authorize funding for the study—not construction. Any subsequent construction proposal would require a separate community decision after more detailed designs, costs, MSBA reimbursement level, and financing information become available.

Likewise, construction costs and potential operating savings would not necessarily begin at the time of a construction vote. Construction would require additional design, permitting, and building work, while the most significant operating savings associated with consolidation would generally begin when students and programs are actually brought together.

Why continue pursuing consolidation rather than maintain our existing schools?

The Steering Committee recognizes the importance of our community schools and the strong

connections residents have with them. But maintaining the current configuration also carries costs and consequences that must be considered alongside the costs of change.

Enrollment has declined substantially over the past several decades, leaving fewer students distributed across multiple schools. This creates increasing challenges for maintaining comprehensive educational programming, providing specialized services, and using limited staffing and financial resources effectively. At the same time, operating costs, building maintenance needs, and local assessments continue to rise.

The question is not simply whether consolidation would initially cost money—it would. The equally

important question is what it will cost, educationally and financially, to continue operating the system

we have today. The updated financial analysis and eventual MSBA feasibility study are intended to help communities evaluate both sides of that equation.

Other Project Updates

Financial Analysis. BERK12 and the Abrahams Group continue updating the financial modeling

completed in 2024. This work incorporates FY26 and FY27 financial information, updated enrollment and staffing data, revised operating savings assumptions, and preliminary capital scenarios. The analysis will also examine when potential costs and savings might occur and how they could affect town assessments over time. Updated findings are expected to be shared in November/December.

Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB). A separate actuarial analysis is being undertaken to examine how existing retiree health insurance obligations and future liabilities could be affected by district consolidation. This work will help clarify potential financial implications for the districts and participating towns.

Educational Visioning. The shared Educational Vision has been completed and published, link HERE.

Developed through extensive community and educator engagement, it describes the educational

experiences and opportunities the districts could aspire to provide all students on a single campus. The vision will be an important foundation for evaluating potential building and program configurations during feasibility.

Research and Site Visits. Hanover Research has completed several studies examining the experiences of other rural communities that have considered or implemented school consolidation. Its recent case studies found no consistent pattern linking school closure or consolidation to subsequent economic or population decline, although the research cautions that these comparisons cannot establish cause and effect. An integrated report summarizing the research is expected later in November.

Steering Committee members also visited the Southern Berkshire Regional School District in October to learn more about its shared PreK–12 campus, educational programming, staffing, transportation, and school culture. The visit provided useful examples of both the opportunities and challenges associated with serving students of different ages on a single campus.

Community Outreach and Communications. Meetings with Select Boards and community groups

continue across the eight towns. Working with Paul Robbins Associates, the Steering Committee is also developing additional informational materials to help residents better understand the project's

educational goals, financial considerations, MSBA process, and upcoming decisions. The emphasis

remains on providing accurate, accessible information and encouraging questions and community

dialogue.

Looking Ahead

The Steering Committee's endorsement of feasibility marks an important transition from studying

potential organizational models to determining whether a preferred approach can be implemented

successfully. The next steps include consideration by both School Committees, continued work through the MSBA Eligibility Phase, updated financial analysis, and expanded community outreach in preparation for a potential feasibility vote.

There are still significant questions to answer, particularly about construction costs, the timing of

expenditures and savings, and the financial implications for individual towns. Those questions deserve careful analysis rather than premature estimates or promises.

Reasonable people can disagree about the best path forward. The Steering Committee's responsibility is to ensure that residents have the information needed to evaluate both the opportunities and costs of change—and the consequences of maintaining the current system.

Our goal remains to preserve and expand high-quality educational opportunities for students while

creating a system that our eight communities can sustain for the future.

Community participation remains essential to this effort. Updates, reports, research, and other resources are available at 2Districts8Towns.org.

10/30: CCS School hike for grades 1-6

10/31: 1:00 pm: Colrain Food for All pop-up event in the gymnasium

11/2: No School for district wide inservice day for staff

11/5: 3:30 PTO meeting

11/10: 3:30 LEC meeting

11/11: No School in observance of Veterans' Day

11/12 & 11/13: 12:30 dismissals for Caregiver/Teacher conferences

11/24: Jay Mankita visits with his Playful Engineers

11/25: 12:30 dismissal in observance of Thanksgiving

11/26 & 11/27: No school in observance of Thanksgiving

12:30 dismissals: 11/12, 11/13, 11/25