by Lucy Prashker, Chair of the 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board and Jake Eberwein, RSDPB Project Manager

Whether the Southern Berkshire Regional School District and the Berkshire Hills Regional School District will join to create a new single PreK-12 district is expected to be put to the voters of the eight members towns the last week of October.

At its September 26, 2023 meeting, the Board will be presented with a final draft of the proposed regional agreement, which on September 14 was formally approved by DESE’s Office of Regional Governance and its legal office as an agreement it could recommend to the Commissioner of Education. Should the Board vote to approve that agreement, the Board’s recommendation and the proposed agreement will be forwarded to the Select Boards of the 8 towns for placement on the warrants for the October special town meetings.

The Board will continue to hold public forums to provide information about its recommendation and answer questions. Upcoming forums are planned for 

September 27 at Mt. Everett (a forum requested by the SBRSD school committee to discuss just the provisions of the regional agreement)

October 4 at the Mahaiwe (an informational forum to be moderated by The Berkshire Eagle, which will cover all topics)

October 11 at Mt. Everett 

October 18 at Monument Mountain (both covering all topics)

We will also be present at:

Stockbridge Finance Committee on October 2

West Stockbridge Select Board meeting on October 10

In September, we presented at a joint eight town select board/finance committee meeting and at select board meetings in Egremont and Monterey). All voters should visit 8towns.org for detailed information about the reasons behind the Board’s recommendation and additional information about upcoming meetings.