Quabbin Consultants Present Options to Close Up to Three Elementary Schools

BARRE — April 27, 2017 — Quabbin Regional consultants outline up to $1.5 million in annual savings through elementary school closures. The Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management presented 14 facility consolidation alternatives at a joint School Committee and task force meeting April 27, with senior associate Monika Lamboy and superintendent-in-residence Bill Andreoli leading the analysis. The district's five elementary buildings enroll 980 students but operate nearly twice the classroom capacity the state would fund, with at least 71,000 square feet of excess space. Out-of-district special education placements have surged 53 percent over three years, adding roughly $1.5 million in costs, pushing the district's special education population to 20.3 percent — nearly three points above the state average of 17.4 percent. The most aggressive consolidation scenario, closing three of five elementary schools, would generate just under $1.5 million in annual savings beginning in year two, but would require town-by-town votes under the current regional school agreement — a structural constraint the consultants urged the committee to consider amending.