Citizens Group Forms to Build Support for MMRHS Construction

A group of Berkshire Hills School District taxpayers, parents, students, educators, business leaders and others are organizing to raise support for the Nov. 4, 2025 Berkshire Hills School District vote for construction of a new Monument Mountain Regional High School.

While the group is just now organizing, in coming weeks and months, Citizens for the Next Monument will launch the ‘YesMonument!’ campaign to inform district residents and taxpayers about the urgent need to replace the old, outdated 1968 school. The school no longer meets educational and facility regulations and standards for 21st century secondary academic and career/vocational, and a new facility will benefit thousands of future students, for generations to come. 

“It’s time to level up our district high school facility on par with our district’s newer elementary and middle schools, and come November every vote will count at the ballot box,” said Ellen Lahr, co-chair of the committee with Rebecca Gold of Great Barrington. “We can’t pass up nearly $60 million in state aid dedicated by the state, and we can’t pass up this crucial investment in our kids and our community.”

YesMonument! is in the early planning stages, with a yesmonument.org website in the works, @yesmonument social media pages, and development of voter databases, to help with reaching district stakeholders directly. Early outreach has shown that some district residents, even parents, are not aware of the project.

The committee will also work to talk with voters regarding the financial impact of the project. District taxpayers in Great Barrington, Stockbridge and West Stockbridge will contribute more than $90 million toward the overall cost – though precise costs won’t be finalized by the state and district until August.

“We all agree that building a new school is expensive, and those costs are heavily driven by the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s strict regulations, construction standards and formulas for new schools, but we believe this is an investment in our kids, our community and our workforce,” Gold. “We will urge district voters to approach overall cost questions with an understanding of their own individual tax impacts, rather than the big overall numbers.”

Soon, taxpayers will have some tools to help calculate personal tax impacts.

YesMonument! representatives will show up at school and community events, farmers markets, street festivals, business locations and more to talk to voters. The group also seeks to build a wider group of YesMonument! Ambassadors who are well-informed with facts and information so they can speak with their friends and neighbors. The group has already raised about $2,000 to help cover outreach costs. 

For more information, contact Ellen G. Lahr.