Strong Community Opposition to Possible Closing of Pelham Elementary School

Report on the Joint Meeting of Amherst, Pelham, and Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committees, January 27, 2026, Part 1

This meeting was held at the Amherst Town Hall due to the snow storm and was simulcast over Amherst Media Channel 15, and was recorded.

Present
Regional School Committee: Sarabess Kenney (Chair, Pelham), Anna Heard (Shutesbury), Bridget Hynes (Amherst), Deb Leonard (Amherst), Sarah Marshall (Amherst), Jennifer Shiao (Amherst), William Scherr (Pelham), Tim Shores (Leverett)

Amherst School Committee: Deb Leonard (Chair),  Andrew Hart, Bridget Hynes, Sarah Marshall

Pelham School Committee: Margaret Stancer (Chair), Jenny Bradbury, Rachel Figurasmith, Sarabess Kenney, William Scherr

Staff: E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi, Superintendent of Schools), Shannon Bernacchia (School Finance Director)

Over 40 parents, teachers, and students shared personal statements about the impact Pelham Elementary has had on their lives at the joint school committee meeting. 

This increased audience participation was influenced by the discussion of the possible closing of the school in the near future and suggestions made at the special Pelham School Committee meeting on January 22,  to move the sixth grade to Chestnut Street Academy, Amherst’s, stand-alone sixth grade academy, next year.

During that meeting, it was publicly discussed that the Pelham Elementary District will receive level funding for next year but that will not be enough to support level services or the long-term capital plan for the building.  One possible succession plan would be to have Pelham Elementary students in grades K-5 attend Amherst elementary schools and have sixth graders attend Amherst’s new Chestnut Street Academy.

Graham Thomas, a fifth grader at Pelham Elementary, said over voicemail, “I do not like the idea of moving to a different school. I want to finish my time at this school before I move to another school because I’ve already moved schools enough times, and I love Pelham. I do not support your proposal and please reconsider.” 

Soon after the January 22 meeting last week, families and teachers rallied against the sixth grade move and advocated for the use of school choice funds for the 2026-2027 school year. They also supported the original wording in Goal Three outlined in the Superintendent School Committee Summative Evaluation, which stated, “Conduct a focused program review for Pelham Elementary School, engaging families and community partners to develop short-term recommendations for the School Committee,” and did not originally mention a “succession plan” for the Pelham Elementary School. 

Dr. Xi explained that succession planning applies to all three districts, and she is focused on developing more long-term goals in response to the information about Pelham’s unsustainable funding.

“The initial one (Goal 1) focuses solely on instructional programming. This is talking about long-term, full time sustainability of Pelham, which includes the instructional program, but expands beyond that in saying these are additional things that we need to do and to consider to be brought forth,” she said.

Even though this matter pertains only to Pelham, the vote on goal three will take place at a joint school committee meeting since the original vote on the superintendent goals took place there.

Pelham residents shared they felt blind sided by these decisions and suggestions made at the Pelham school committee meeting.

“I’m from a family of almost entirely teachers and educators, so it’s close to my heart in a lot of ways, but this kind of discussion should be the public, the town, the parents, the teachers should all be aware of it and have a chance to participate before these kinds of big decisions are made or before the terms of discussion are changed behind the scenes,” Jody Seager, parent of a second grader at the elementary school, said.

Parents and teachers praised the elementary school for its uniqueness based on its small size and involved community.

Giselle Gonzalez, first grade teacher at Pelham, said, “We have teachers who have been at Pelham for almost 30 years or over 30 years. Teachers would lose so much if we need to go somewhere else, and I’m not just talking about money. We’re losing something much greater, we’re losing our community. We’re losing families who are always there supporting us like right now, students that love us and we love them back.”

When the committee addressed the superintendent’s Midyear Evaluation Update, a couple hours after public comment, more questions and concerns were raised about the status of goal three and the fate of Pelham Elementary.. 

Dr. Xi made it clear that the proposals made at the previous meeting were merely suggestions created with little time and information. Since then, Dr. Xi has removed the words: “succession planning” given that it applies to all districts and now has a negative connotation. She stated that she is not advocating for Pelham sixth graders to move to Amherst, but that there needs to be a plan for them going forward.

“My recommendation is use your school choice funds, and be mindful of the fact and be informed of the fact of what the impact of using those school choice funds will be, and to start a rigorous plan for fiscal year 2028 and beyond, so that the school can sustain,” Dr. Xi said.

Given the previous wording at the Pelham meeting a week before, Pelham School Committee member Rachel Figurasmith expressed concern about the lack of communication and the reputation of the school committees and their districts.

“I’m really concerned and disturbed by the narrative that is being rewritten about Pelham. Families activated themselves and their teachers tonight based on very real concerns, and based on a presentation that was made less than a week ago. At last count for me, we have received dozens of emails or dozens of voicemails, and tonight saw another dozen people here tonight, all at a school with 127 children,” Figurasmith said.

“I am glad that tonight we are hearing that effectively last week’s suggestions were just unresearched potential suggestions, but they had a real impact on people,” she added.

This discussion will continue at the Pelham School Committee meeting on February 3.

Read more:
Pelham Parents, Teachers Plead: ‘Don’t Move Us’. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)