SAVOY — Berkshire County’s smallest elementary school is shrinking again: Emma L. Miller School will lose its sixth grade next year, has no local pre-kindergarten students enrolled and is cutting teaching assistant positions as enrollment continues to slide.

With 41 students now enrolled, the elementary school is looking to cut as little as possible from its budget while preparing to start the 2026-2027 school year with fewer students.

Even though Emma Miller is part of the North Berkshire School Union, starting next year, sixth graders at the school will attend Hoosac Valley Middle School in Cheshire. The town of Savoy will cover tuition through its existing agreement with the district for grades seven through 12.

While prekindergarten will still be offered, there are no 4-year-olds enrolled for that classroom for the next school year.

The school is currently the smallest in Berkshire County. Hancock Elementary School is the next smallest, with an enrollment of 44. And next year, Hancock may actually have fewer students.

The proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is just over $1 million, up 2 percent from the current year. North Berkshire School Union Superintendent John Franzoni said the plan maintains level services, with the added tax burden largely reflecting a drop in state aid.

“We really don’t have any place else to reduce [at Emma Miller], unless we were to, at some point, reduce a teaching position," Franzoni said. "That would be last resort if we had to, because we have covers, but when people are out, it’s very difficult to find substitutes. There's really no consideration of reducing teaching staff right now.”

The reduction in teaching assistants includes one unfilled retirement and the elimination of another full-time position, Franzoni said.

Franzoni recalled that there was a time when every classroom had a teaching assistant, but that will not be the case going forward. Only the first and second grade classroom will have a teaching assistant assigned to it, he said.

In order for the small school to get by with less, Franzoni said many adults wear different hats.

For example, Franzoni said the school’s full-time special education teacher can serve as a second adult in the classroom when needed. The school nurse works in the front office as assistant to the principal and assists in classrooms as well.

Tracey Tierney doubles as the principal and as third-grade teacher, a dual role she’s held for the past few years.

Included in Savoy's school budget is tuition to Hoosac Valley Regional School District. Total tuition cost to Hoosac Valley Regional School District is actually expected to go down slightly, to $72,973 to educate six students.

Tuition budgeted for this school year was $80,690 for seven students.

Even with combined grade classrooms, Emma Miller has relied on school choice students from out of the district, who attend at a minimum cost of $5,000 to their home districts, plus additional costs for special education if needed.

This year, the school had 21 children from Savoy and 20 from out of the district.

Franzoni said that with 34 students projected to return to Emma Miller in 2026-27, the school committee approved 12 school choice openings. If every school choice slot is filled, enrollment in 2026-27 would be 46.

Emma Miller has relied on school choice to bolster class sizes in combined grade classrooms.

In the past, the school also accepted school-choice students into its pre-kindergarten program, but Franzoni said it stopped enrolling out-of-district children in recent years based on guidance from the school’s attorney.

“There’s really no legal means to collect tuition,” Franzoni said. “You’re trusting that they’re going to pay.”

When asked if the school is sustainable at this enrollment, Franzoni said "There's no consideration now for closing the school." Although, he pointed out that he did suggest exploring a study between Savoy and Florida about possible consolidation at Florida's school, Abbott Memorial.

The school committee rejected that idea.

Franzoni has been active as one of four superintendents working on a Northern Berkshire Regionalization Study for districts across Northern Berkshire County, but the scope of that study is limited to grades six through 12.

"It'll be interesting to see what the study shows. I think it's going to be an interesting first phase."

The final decision on the school budget rests with town meeting on May 13.