PITTSFIELD — The Pittsfield School Committee has passed the district’s $87.2 million spending plan for fiscal 2027, setting the wheels in motion for a long-sought restructuring of the city middle schools to take effect next school year.

The budget, reflecting a new “fair student formula” put in place by interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips, passed by a 6-1 vote Wednesday night. It now goes to the City Council as part of the city’s overall financial plan for the 12-month period starting July 1.

Phillips had set the budget adoption deadline as the “go/no-go” date for the middle school plan. The budget funds the staffing and program costs needed to move all fifth and sixth grade students to Herberg Middle School and all seventh and eighth grade students to Reid Middle School this fall.

That move, years in the making, reflects a desire to improve academic performance, provide more equitable opportunity for students across the city and reverse a yearslong exodus to school choice, charter and parochial options in the middle grades.

The adoption came hours after the United Educators of Pittsfield, the city teachers union, announced that its membership had voted to allow its executive committee to reach an agreement with the School Committee on middle school start and end times. That vote allows work on the initiative to progress rather than awaiting a membership vote as the clock ticks on a tight timeline.

“This proactive step comes as the district navigates changes related to [the closure of] Morningside, staff placements, and middle school restructuring,” the union said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. “By approving this measure, members have empowered union leadership to address necessary contractual adjustments in a timely and thoughtful manner.”

The union vote was 74 percent in favor of the change, with 415 of the United Educators of Pittsfield’s 520 members voting.

In the district's plan for middle schools, Herberg Middle School would house fifth and sixth grade students from across the city.

A prior vote on the middle school hours held last month failed by nine votes, with a much smaller percentage of members casting ballots. But in the days that followed, the union reiterated its commitment to the middle school plan, and to working in partnership with the School Committee and Phillips.

A School Committee vote on a memorandum of understanding outlining those changes will take place in a special online meeting of the School Committee, scheduled for Monday

The fiscal 2027 budget posed a significant challenge for Phillips, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland, and the rest of the district’s administration. That task: Put a district in turnaround status in position for needed academic improvement while finding $4.3 million in cuts.

The cuts came as the schools received a much smaller increase in state Chapter 70 education funding than previous years. At the same time, the city’s $18 million share of the school budget remained unchanged from last year, while costs grew.

Interim Pittsfield School Superintendent Latifah Phillips, shown during a public hearing earlier this month, said she could stand behind the district's fiscal 2027 budget as fiscally sound and positioning the schools for better outcomes. “We expect to see improvement and we’re going to hold ourselves accountable,” she said.

Phillips saluted Howland and the district administration, building principals, teachers and students for their work and input on the budget. She said she could stand behind the plan as fiscally sound and positioning the schools for better outcomes — but acknowledged that difficult choices had to be made, particularly in “rightsizing” class sizes across the board.

“We expect to see improvement and we’re going to hold ourselves accountable,” she said. “And if we do not see growth we’ll show where we’re not seeing growth and why and where we need to pivot.”

The cuts are balanced with significant investment in resources for Conte Community School in order to bring that “open floor plan” building to level footing with other schools in the district, and for Morningside Community School students who will move to four other schools when their school closes in June. (Conte is slated for eventual closure when a new elementary school is built at the Crosby Elementary School campus.)

The spending plan restores two positions at Pittsfield High School — an assistant principal and a family engagement and attendance officer. A number of staffing cuts were originally proposed at PHS as the district worked to find $4.3 million in reductions while working to position the district for an academic turnaround.

Limited relief might be forthcoming from Beacon Hill, where Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, have proposed a total of $400,000 in Fair Share Amendment funds for the city schools. Those earmarks, plus a proposed increase in minimum per-pupil spending that would net Pittsfield an additional $458,660, would provide an additional $858,660 to the district.

Phillips said those dollars were not included in the spending plan as they have yet to be allocated.

“If we are allocated additional funding we will review any positions that have been cut,” she said.

Pittsfield School Committee member Heather McNeice commended the administration for its work on the fiscal 2027 budget Wednesday night, saying the "fair student formula" used to reach the spending plan was "the right way to fund our schools."

As part of Wednesday’s agenda packet, Howland, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and finance, included a potential third revision for the School Committee to consider if it wanted to keep Herberg and Reid as grade 6-8 schools for one more year.

There was no discussion of moving in that direction, and Phillips expressed confidence that the district is ready to put the restructuring in motion.

“I believe our important milestones are in place to move forward with implementation,” she said.

The next priority in the restructuring, Phillips said, is working out where teachers will be reassigned. Work has already gone into which teachers are licensed for the right grade levels, and where new hires are needed for academic, social and emotional supports.

“There's options that teachers have based on seniority,” Phillips told The Eagle earlier Wednesday. “It's not going to be an easy process, but I am confident … we'll land the process before the school year ends.”

Several questions on the budget focused on proposed growth in the administrative section — $249,909, or 10.6 percent.

Phillips and Howland explained that percentage seems large because it reflects raises for a small group of employees over more than a year, and the addition of a new human resources specialist to help the district recruit and keep teachers and staff.

“We walked into a slim central office,” Phillips said in response to a question by School Committee member Ciara Batory, the lone no vote on the budget. “We are a district with turnaround needs, and a slim curriculum and instruction office, a slim HR office ... So I do stand by the central office budget and the proposals we made.”

The administrative section of the budget makes up 2.98 percent of the overall spending plan.