BELCHERTOWN — Belchertown School District is moving ahead with plans to close Cold Spring School at the end of the school year and redistribute pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students among the remaining open schools.
The School Committee voted Tuesday to close the pre-K and kindergarten school by June 30, 2026, and turn the building back to the town. Superintendent Brian Cameron estimates the closure of the district’s oldest building will save an estimated $568,500 a year in maintenance, operations and personnel.
“We cannot keep reducing teachers without impacting academic performance,” Cameron said. “If we continue to cut beyond this, it’s going to be classroom teachers. It’s going to be extracurriculars. It’s going to be sports.”
As a result of Cold Spring’s closure, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students will move into Swift River Elementary School next year, which would become a pre-K through second grade school. The third grade currently at Swift River will move to Chestnut Hill Community School, which will house third through fifth grades. The sixth grade, currently at Chestnut Hill, will move to Jabish Brook Middle School, which will be home to grades 6-8.
Belchertown High School would remain ninth grade through 12th grade in case the district wants to regionalize in the future.
The closure of Cold Spring has been a topic of discussion for years, but pressure to shut down the school amped up last spring during discissions over a $2.6 million Proposition 2½ override, which narrowly passed. Cameron and School Committee members had already promised to close Cold Spring within the next two years, but an unforeseen $656,352 midyear increase in health insurance costs pushed school leadership to move up their timeline.
As part of Cold Spring’s closure, the district may also eliminate a homeroom teacher in each grade to conform with the projected declining enrollment. Reducing seven homerooms to six homerooms in each grade would bump classes sizes up from 19 students per classroom to 22 students per classroom. At the middle school, math classrooms will increase from about 19 students to 21 students.
“If we close Cold Spring, we still have these capital improvements we need to do to our existing schools,” Cameron said. “I’m sure the town has the same issue.”
Both parents and School Committee members expressed concern over moving more students into Jabish Brook, the district’s second oldest building. The middle school needs a new roof, heating and cooling systems, windows and updated traffic flow plans. Last year, residents voted down construction of a $122.6 million request to build a new middle school.
Both the fire chief and building inspector said that Jabish Brook has no immediate safety concerns, Cameron said. However, the district will immediately apply to Massachusetts School Building Association’s Accelerated Repair Program for grants toward capital improvements. He, along with School Committee member Jake Hulsberg, will also likely ask the town to consider bonds for a new roof.
In the meantime, Cameron is also asking for smaller improvements, like paint or mirrors, to improve student moral.
“I had a daughter that went through Jabish Brook and it inhibited her learning to some extent, to be in a building that was in the condition that was in,” Finance Committee Chair Laurie Shea said. “If there’s some smaller things we can do while we’re working on the larger things to help the students that go there just feel more empowered by their environment and more inspired to learn, I would support that.”
Swift River and Chestnut Hill also require renovations down the road, officials said. The elementary school will need a new roof and boiler within the next five years, while Chestnut Hill’s HVAC system is long past its life, and the upkeep of the pool continues to drain the budget.
The Select Board and Finance Committee affirmed their commitment to repair the school buildings. However, nearly every municipal building in town requires large renovations, and the funding for these improvements remains sparce.
“The Town Hall had a wall that I pushed against and it went in. We have the general public going in there,” Select Board Chair Lesa Pearson said. “You’ve had a partner with the Select Board, in the past two years, and in the year coming up. But recognize that all the buildings need help, and we hope that you will support our efforts in making the town safer overall.”
Cameron said he plans to hold listening sessions with school staff and parents in fall and winter before drafting a plan to close the school. The School Committee will vote on the closure plan in late winter and begin transitioning staff and students to their new buildings in spring.