Heather Bellow reports in The Berkshire Eagle that voters in four of eight towns voted against a merger between the Berkshire Hills and Southern Berkshire regional school districts, enough to stop the proposal. Seven towns held simultaneous special town meetings on Oct. 23, and a majority of Egremont weighed in against the plan on Oct. 21. Sheffield residents voted 503-to-99 against the proposal. Monterey voters were 87-to-73 against. In New Marlborough, the vote was 165-112 against the merger, and Egremont's vote was 143-78, also against the merger. Alford voters supported the plan 106-to-23. Great Barrington voters went 374-to-88 vote for the proposal, while West Stockbridge voted for it 86-to-14 and Stockbridge voters were 107-to-14 in favor. Lucy Prashker, chair of the 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board, said, "That split brings the work of our eight-town planning board to an end." But Prashker also said that "the challenges remain unsolved — the challenges of low and declining enrollment, the increasing burdens those declines place on our taxpayers, and, most importantly, the limiting of choices and opportunities for our children." Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.