NORTH ADAMS — Who will design a study exploring whether Northern Berkshire school districts should regionalize or "reorganize" at middle and high school levels? North Adams schools is one step closer to a decision and is asking the community for help.

The North Adams Public School Committee is seeking community members to join a steering committee that will guide a study exploring the reorganization or regionalization of the school districts. Those who would like to join the committee can send a letter of interest via email to Mayor Jennifer Macksey, who is also the School Committee chair, at [email protected] by Dec. 5.

Macksey will then recommend the four voting members at the School Committee's Jan. 6 meeting.

North Adams Public Schools, Hoosac Valley Regional School District, Mount Greylock Regional School District and Northern Berkshire School Union have joined an exploratory working group and will each send four voting representatives to the steering committee by early January, according to North Adams Superintendent Tim Callahan.

The potential communities involved in the regionalization include Adams, Cheshire, Florida, Lanesborough, North Adams, Savoy, Williamstown, and Monroe and Rowe, small Northern Berkshire School Union towns in Franklin County.

This proposal is being referred to as a “potential reorganization.” Districts involved joined the study because they represent smaller rural towns facing declining enrollment and population trends. It's harder for each individual district to operate as tax bases remain the same but per-pupil costs rise.

Some schools within the proposed regionalization group have already tried teaming up in smaller ways to fight the effects of declining enrollment. Recently, some rival high schools in the different districts formed a regionalized football team.

State Rep. John Barrett III and state Sen. Paul Mark secured legislative earmarks to fund the study, which will hire a consultant to collect data and outline options for possibly reorganizing the districts involved with a focus on strengthening secondary-level programs and services.

Barrett and Mark secured $100,000 for the study and an additional $25,000 in funding through Berk12 for regionalization efforts, said Callahan.

Each district or union involved in the exploratory working group will select four members to the steering committee, but there are guidelines for who is selected. According to the guidelines, the committee should include a member of the school committee, a town or municipal government representative and a resident. Also, superintendents will serve as non-voting members.

The steering committee will select a vendor for the exploratory study, analyze the results, manage and procure financial earmarks dedicated to the work of the Northern Berkshire Educational Collaborative, establish communication between the collaborative and the community and make recommendations for regionalization and or collaborations to member school committees and towns for eventual vote.

The working group's meeting in October that drafted the process for selecting a steering committee was comprised of the superintendent and two school committee representatives from each of the four entities involved. The next exploratory working Group meeting is 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at North Adams City Hall Conference Room.