AMHERST — Creation of a 6th Grade Academy inside the Amherst Regional Middle School, coinciding with the opening of the new elementary school building on South East Street, will be supported by $450,000 in capital spending.
The Joint Capital Planning Committee is recommending to the Town Council the money that will allow changes to be made to the 170 Chestnut Street building to accommodate the sixth graders, who will be moving there when the new K-5, 575-student school opens in the fall of 2026.
But even though the money is expected to be sufficient, Shannon Bernacchia, the school’s finance director, told the Amherst School Committee last week that a lot of work needs to be done, in part because those who have planned out the move are no longer employed in the district.
The planning documents remain available to families at https://arps.org/6grade-movetoarms/
“Are those plans still what we want to do because it’s been some time since then, and do they financially make the most sense? I’m not sure,” Bernacchia said. “We’re going to have to revisit and read it all over again and figure out if that is the best plan to put forth.”
Bernacchia said some of the money, which will be used for infrastructure changes at the school building, will cover consultants who will help facilitate the work, but there is also a need for community input from families, district leadership, principals and teachers.
The original $350,000 was sought by Rupert Roy-Clark, the retired facilities director, but Bernacchia suggested a higher amount to make the necessary alterations necessary so the sixth graders at Crocker Farm, which will remain open, and Wildwood and Fort River, which will both close, can relocate to the middle school.
Previously, $500,000 had been sought in American Rescue Plan Act money to pay for changes to the middle school building, though that money is no longer available.
During planning, there had been talk about whether students from all of the regional towns, including Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett, would be part of the 6th Grade Academy. In the end, though, it will only be for Amherst students, even as the seventh and eighth graders in the building hail from all four towns.
Other planning related to the school also needs to be done, said Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Shiao. That includes discussing the changes to the “catchment” area for the schools, the geographic area in town from which the elementary schools draw, and how to do appropriate redistricting or rezoning to determine which school a student will attend. This has to happen to allow the right number of students to be at each grade level in the two elementary schools that will be operating in fall 2026, complicated by the Caminantes dual language program that is open to students from throughout town.
Shiao said another discussion will on what name the new school will take.
The $450,000 for the 6th Grade Academy work is part of $6.76 million recommended to finance capital projects for the town, libraries and schools, based on 10.5% of the property tax levy. Of the money not covering past debt service, there is $4.52 million for new projects.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
