Pioneer invited to MSBA eligibility program to build new school
Published: 01-06-2025 5:01 AM |
NORTHFIELD — The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has invited the Pioneer Valley Regional School District into its eligibility program for building a new school, the first major step in what could be a years-long process.
The MSBA’s board of directors extended the invitation to Pioneer for Northfield Elementary School — although the district has submitted all three of its schools — during its Dec. 13 meeting, which begins a 270-day period to complete several prerequisites before facing another vote to enter the actual feasibility study stage. During that same meeting, the MSBA also voted to invite the Athol-Royalston Regional School District into the eligibility period for Athol High School.
“It’s really ramping up the work of this long process of potentially building a new school,” said Pioneer’s Director of Finance and Operations Jordan Burns, emphasizing that no money has been spent thus far. “This isn’t an approval to build a new school building, it’s approval to continue the process.”
The invitation continues the process the district kicked off at the end of 2023, in which it completed a facilities master plan that envisions having just one campus for the district. While the invitation from the MSBA is for Northfield Elementary School, Superintendent Patricia Kinsella and Burns said the invitation letter mentioned Pioneer’s current exploration of consolidating its district into one building, where Northfield Elementary students would attend school if everything moves forward according to plan.
In its facilities master plan, Pioneer proposed bringing all students under Pioneer Valley Regional School’s roof, allowing for both elementary schools to be repurposed for other uses by Bernardston and Northfield. Kinsella said the completion of the master plan likely contributed to the process moving forward, as well as the dedication of the district’s employees.
“I think it was a real validation of the hard work in this district over the past several years for us to be approved to move forward on our first try,” Kinsella said. “It’s been a few decades since the district has worked with the MSBA.”
Local funding for a feasibility study will not require any money from Bernardston, Leyden or Northfield because the school has enough cash in its reserves, Burns said.
Other requirements include forming a school building committee, as well as the completing several documents and forms about school maintenance, educational offerings and the execution of a feasibility study agreement.
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A “ballpark” guess for the feasibility study is about $750,000 to $1 million, but the MSBA will potentially reimburse up to 60% of that, according to Burns. Appropriation of funding must come from the School Committee.
“I think we’re in a pretty good spot, financially, to self-fund this part,” Burns said.
Upon the completion of these prerequisites, the MSBA’s board of directors will take up the district’s project again and, if approved, it will move to the second major step in the process, which is forming the project team.
“The eligibility period is a critical step in the MSBA’s process of evaluating potential work on Northfield Elementary School,” MSBA Executive Director Mary Pichetti said in a statement. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the district as it enters the eligibility period.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.