What's next? That's the question facing the Pittsfield Public Schools.

The district is evaluating its facilities two years after opening the new Taconic High School. Superintendent Jason McCandless says they are considering several options.

“I just think it would be short-changing the taxpayers of Pittsfield and the Commonwealth to just pick another project and push it," said McCandless. "We really need to look at, 'are there possibilities for restructuring our number of schools? Are there possibilities to re-district some of our schools?' ”

Merging some of the city's eight elementary schools is one possibility being considered. The city's school system used to accommodate more than 10,000 students in the 1960s and '70s. However, enrollment has decreased drastically since then.

"As we sit here today, we're closer to 5,500 students, and our colleagues at the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission would suggest that by 2028, we're closer to 4,000 students," McCandless said.

Another possible change could be transforming the new Taconic High School to vocational-only, and moving the rest of its students to Pittsfield High School. McCandless says vocational enrollment has risen dramatically in the last 10 years.

“Our local demand, just in the city of Pittsfield for vocational seats, is immense. We would very much like to … open up more seats to our neighboring communities that aren’t served by their own program," McCandless said.

The district is looking to bring in a consultant to evaluate the city's schools. McCandless says it's important to get an outside perspective before deciding on a direction for the future.

“To make that decision without good, solid, unbiased, unpoliticized information just does not seem like the way to go," said the superintendent.

The request for proposal should be going out sometime within the next month, and the hope is that the school district will receive the full report by about the end of this school year.