Community members attend a public hearing Thursday night at the Reid Middle School Library on the potential closing of Morningside Community School.

PITTSFIELD — Parents and community members say closing Morningside Community School would do more than move students to new buildings. It would disrupt the stable routines, relationships and community support system their children rely on every day.

At a packed public hearing in the Reid Middle School library Thursday, families, educators, alums and neighborhood residents urged the Pittsfield School Committee to reconsider a proposal to close the high-needs elementary school and redistribute its roughly 300 students to four other elementary schools. If approved, it would be the district's first school closure since Pomeroy Elementary was shuttered in 1985.

"Morningside is more than a building. It is a stable, supportive environment for students, many of whom face high needs," said Ayishetu Braimah, a Morningside parent. "Closing Morningside does not solve underlying challenges. It relocates them while exposing students to emotional distress, mental health risk and social inequities."

The closure is driven by a $4 million budget shortfall that interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said is pushing the district to consider options it otherwise wouldn't. Early projections put the potential savings at around $2.5 million if Morningside closes and its students are redistributed among the four other elementary schools.

Interim Pittsfield School Superintendent Latifah Phillips listen to parents and residents speak Thursday night about the potential impact of closing of Morningside Community School during a public hearing in the Reid Middle School Library.

But the net savings are more complicated than they appear. Nearly $1 million would need to be immediately reinvested in services for displaced students, many of whom meet the state's "high need" criteria. Funding for the 21st Century after-school program, which provides academically enriching programming for about 70 Morningside children, also would need to be addressed separately.

A working draft redistribution plan — which Phillips emphasized is not final — suggests allocating about 31 percent of Morningside students to Egremont, and about 23 percent each to Allendale, Capeless and Williams. The district would need to redraw elementary enrollment districts quickly if the plan moves forward, Phillips said.

Residents repeatedly described the school, which has served the community since 1973, as the anchor of its neighborhood, both physically and emotionally.

Colleen Nixon, who lives “a stone’s throw” from the school, said she deliberately moved to the area so her children could walk to their neighborhood school, just as she did growing up.

Parent Colleen Nixon speaks about the potential closing of Morningside Community School on Thursday night during a public hearing at the Reid Middle School Library.

“When you take away the education from a community, especially one like Morningside, when it's so difficult for our residents to get to any other school, you're taking away the lifeline, not just for today, but also for their future,” said Nixon, whose two sons attended Morningside. “Knowing that they can get their education in their community to walk to school is everything.”

Braimah warned that children who already face poverty, housing instability and other challenges depend on the consistency of Morningside's staff, routines and services. Disrupting that stability, she said, could lead to stress, anxiety, behavioral problems and academic setbacks.

Others voiced fears that the building might sit empty — like other former sites in Pittsfield — or be repurposed in ways that don't benefit residents. More than one speaker urged that if the school does close, the building must remain a community asset.

Mayor Peter Marchetti said there is no set plan for the building yet, but indicated that at least part of it would be preserved for community use.

"The gym will stay a gym," Marchetti said.

Community activist Fernando Leon painted a stark picture of who Morningside serves. More than 80 percent of Morningside students are low-income, nearly 90 percent are classified as high-need, about 25 percent are English learners, and close to 30 percent speak a first language other than English.

For a school with that profile, Leon said, the decision carries a weight that goes beyond dollars and cents.

"Once a school serves that kind of a student population, closure cannot be treated as a neutral question of efficiency," he said. "It becomes a question of whether we are expanding opportunity or relocating vulnerability."

Leon acknowledged the building's shortcomings — particularly its open-plan layout, which research suggests harms student learning — but argued the district should not move forward without a transparent, evidence-based, child-centered transition plan.

The need for such a plan was a recurring theme throughout the evening. Several speakers warned that sending Morningside students into other more affluent schools without careful preparation could expose children to bias, stereotypes and racial discrimination.

Rebecca Thompson proposed a concrete path forward: sending multiple Morningside staff members to each receiving school to maintain continuity, beginning coordinated integration planning at all five schools as early as mid-April, organizing visiting days at receiving schools before the end of the year and preserving valued programs like Kids 4 Harmony.

"For Morningside students to truly belong, there has to be a reshaping of each school's culture based on a shared understanding that Morningside students and teachers are bringing gifts with them that can enrich the school for everyone," Thompson said. "They are not there just to be helped or to fit in. They are there to change the school."

Morningside staff did not shy away from acknowledging the building's shortcomings. Teacher Olivia Oberle said she once measured 80 decibels inside her classroom, comparable to standing next to a highway.

But she and others insisted that learning happens at Morningside every day.

Morningside teacher Olivia Oberle speaks about the potential closing of Morningside Community School on Thursday during a public hearing at the Reid Middle School Library.

Oberle, who works with English learners, said that when she began in 2021, she served about 40 students alongside a colleague. This year, the school serves 97 English learners across 2.5 positions — a reflection, she said, of changing demographics in the city. Morningside's concentration of transient, lower-cost housing means demand for those services is unlikely to shrink even as the city's overall population declines.

"I agree that we need to shake things up," she said, calling inequality in Pittsfield "egregious." But she questioned why the district is making such a significant decision in April, with changes potentially taking effect by August, and called for investment over closure: building walls and doors, adding behavioral staff and even unlocking a room full of unused books so students could have a functioning library.

Parents and community advocates echoed that call, urging the district to invest in comprehensive behavioral supports, increased staffing, smaller class sizes and consistent training for staff around discipline and classroom structure.

Pittsfield School Committee members listen to community members speak about the potential closing of Morningside Community School during a public hearing Thursday night in the Reid Middle School Library.

The School Committee is expected to debate — and may vote on — the closure proposal at its meeting Wednesday. At least two members said Thursday's hearing gave them pause.

School Committee members Sarah Muil and Daniel Alias both said that after hearing from parents and community members, they have more to consider before casting a vote.