Families and children stand out and spread awareness of the School Committee’s vote on recommendations to repurpose Mittineague Elementary School in West Springfield Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9, 2023. The School Committee voted to close the school this week on Jan. 13.
Republican file photo
WEST SPRINGFIELD — After more than two years of debate, analysis and impassioned pleas from a group of West Springfield residents, the School Committee voted to accept the recommendation of the Enrollment Advisory Committee to close Mittineague Elementary School.
The school building was first built 1800s to serve as a firehouse, before being converted to a school after the Civil War.
Over the years, the building was expanded to suit the needs of the community. In recent years, however, the school has fallen prey to the same issues as other small, neighborhood schools across the state: they have become too expensive to maintain and operate.
Mittineague won a brief reprieve from closure in April 2024 after a parent-led campaign to keep the school open resulted in the School Committee reversing its 2023 decision to close the school. At its Jan. 13 meeting, the School Committee again considered whether to keep the school open for another year. Superintendent Stefania Raschilla explained that, if open, it would have only housed fourth and fifth grade students. The first grade was shuttered in the fall of 2024, and as of the current school year, there are just 62 students enrolled.
Staffing and program adjustments would have been required to ensure equitable resources for the few remaining students.
Instead, the school will close at the end of this school year, and students will be reassigned to either Coburn of Fausey elementary schools. Over the next six weeks, the School Department will host open houses at the schools for Mittineague families and will welcome parent input on which school they prefer. There are other factors in the student assignments, however, including enrollment capacity, target class sizes and transportation needs. By the end of March, school assignments will be finalized, and families will then be notified.
There are also considerations for the staff of Mittineague. Raschilla said there are no plans for layoffs, while also acknowledging that staffing is adjusted each year as enrollment and programming needs change. She said Mittineague staff are encouraged to apply for open positions in any of the schools.
Resident Erin Placey said the groundwork for the decision to close Mittineague was laid when the School Committee chose not to bolster its enrollment over the last two school years. She felt the committee was “less than transparent” in its decision making. “Families need time and support to make the best decision for their kids,” she said, crying.
Another Mittineague parent, Rachel Knowles, said she and others have been “working hard in the best interest of our children” for the past two years, while the School Committee has repeatedly told them that closing Mittineague is in the best interest of taxpayers. She lamented not knowing until May where her son will go to school in September.
“He’s going to enter a school where he knows nobody, where he knows no teachers,” Knowles said. “He’s going to have to start over again.”
She asked that the School Department agree to send children to the school that parents prefer.
Resident Meredith Lewis asked that students who attended Mittineague be placed in classrooms together, ideally with familiar staff, for continuity.
When discussing enrollment, Mayor Will Reichelt, who chairs the School Committee, pointed out that, under the policies of President Donald Trump, the city is not expecting more refugee and immigrant families to settle there, which is what has been driving enrollment in recent years.
The city created the Enrollment Advisory Committee in early 2025 to examine the needs, challenges and opportunities of all West Springfield Schools. The committee’s other phase one recommendations, also accepted by the School Committee, included replacing John Ashley and Fausey elementary schools — work that is already underway. It also advised the city to relocate the main office at Tatham and add a double door entry for security, add four modular classrooms to Memorial School so the school can accommodate a kindergarten and apply for a $12 million Green Grant to replace Memorial’s electrical and HVAC systems, windows, hot water heaters and the roof, while adding solar panels and heat pumps for energy efficiency. The School Committee did not vote on the phase two recommendations to build a third and consolidate others.
