As a proud parent of three Pioneer graduates, current member of the Pioneer School Committee (though I am representing only myself here), and former teacher, I’ve loved reading recent Recorder articles about the Pioneer Valley Regional School District: not one but two undefeated teams and state champions; our innovative environmental science curriculum; our cellphone policy that has earned statewide interest; a tree planted at Bernardston Elementary School that came from space (!); and our most recent budget, which held to the rate of inflation while including fairer compensation for teachers and staff and accounting for a 20% increase in health care costs.

“Small school, giant year” was one of the Recorder headlines and describes our students and staff so well. We have an incredible school community, and our district is thriving.

Six years ago was a very different story: the district was in crisis. In 2019 Pioneer faced what appeared to be an insurmountable deficit, and the state emergently appointed a fiscal overseer.

The diagnosis at the time was that Pioneer was too small and needed to regionalize, leading to formation of the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board. Despite the board’s name, the charge to the board was not to plan for regionalization but rather to evaluate its pros and cons and “make the recommendation to the towns.”

The planning board has been researching a merger for Pioneer ever since. Early on, the board found there was no financial benefit to the towns, though that was the very reason for the planning board in the first place. It now claims the main merger benefit is a broader curriculum. The board is acting as if a merger is the answer, no matter what.

But it is the residents of our towns who get to decide. A majority of voters in every one of the six towns has to approve the merger for it to become legal. In over 70 years of Massachusetts regionalization history, no approval like this has ever happened. It shouldn’t start here.

The upheaval of a merger to attain a wider set of course options misses the mark. The planning board wasn’t brought about because students didn’t have enough course choices — it was formed to solve a financial crisis that has already been solved. Pioneer’s budget is currently balanced and on track to remain balanced in the coming years for the enrollments we currently have and project.

It turns out the diagnosis back then was wrong. What went badly for Pioneer in 2019 was that the district administration didn’t have the right skills for the job. We do now. Pioneer has an administration renowned in the commonwealth for its careful budgeting. The district now pays educators — many of whom are our neighbors — more competitively. And there is a steady increase in school choice and tuition students seeking a district where the scale is more tightly-knit and human.

It turns out that families don’t think being bigger is better. Students, teachers, and families like having a district the size of Pioneer. It turns out we’re already the right size.

There’s so much to be proud of at Pioneer. With continued excellence among its teachers, staff, and administration — and valued partnership with its member towns — the district has a bright future.

The issue isn’t the number of students in a district, it’s whether the district works for the number of students it has. We do. Our Panther community is small but mighty and ready to stay that way.

Stephen Martin lives in Northfield.