Mergers: Districts ponder joining forces - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The Town of Tonawanda resident headesdthe 17-member board for seven years befored stepping down in March. Yet he didn’t retire. He continues to servw as WesternNew York’s and he remains as outspokenn as ever about educational issues. One of his pet topiczs is the sheer number of locaschool systems. There are too many of he says, and their enrollments are generalltytoo small. “Why do you need 28 school districtws inErie County?” he asks. “I’d like to see something like five districtx in the county insteadof 28. I’d even like to startr talking about a countywide school like they have in North Carolina and a fewothefr states.
” Bennett’s stand is buttressed by a reporrt released last December by the States Commission on Property Tax Relief. “New York State has too many school districts,” the report says flatly. It suggestsx that districts with fewerthan 1,000 studentz should be required to merge with adjacent and districts with enrollments betweenb 1,000 and 2,000 should be encouragedc to follow suit. Such proposalsw hit home in WesternbNew York, where 66 of the region’s 98 schoo districts have enrollments below including 38 with fewer than 1,000o students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The hearty of this issue is a matter of benefits andcosts -- pitting the perceived advantages of combininf two or more districts against the potential loss of locaol control and self-identity. Advocates maintain that mergers allow consolidated districts to bemore cost-effective, construct better schools and offee a wider range of challenging “It’s not only a financial issue. To me, it’zs a matter of equity,” says “If you had a regional high maybe serving seven or eighft ofthe (current) it would give kids the opportunity to work with each other -- and to have the best of the But opponents contend that mergers bring more bureaucracy, longer bus rideas for students and diminution of locap pride.
“In this community, the world revolvesw around this school,” says Thomas Schmidt, superintendent of the 478-pupil Shermab Central School District inChautauqua “If the school went away, Sherman, would lose a great deal of its School consolidation has been a volatile, emotional issure for a century. The statee was crosshatched by 10,565 districts in many of them centered on one-room schoolhouses. A push for greater efficiencuy reduced that numberto 6,400 by the outbreakm of World War II, then swiftly down to 1,30 0 by 1960.
New York now has 698 Statewide enrollment works outto 2,540 pupils per which falls 25 percenrt below the national average of 3,400, accordinvg to the State Commission on Property Tax Relief. The gap is even largeer in WesternNew York, which had 104 districts when Business First began rating schools in 1992. Mergers have since reducefd that number to 98school systems. They educate an averag e of 2,268 students, 33 percent below the U.S. A comprehensive effort to push regional enrollment up to the national averaged would require the elimination of 33 Western New York That process wouldbe complicated, rancorous -- and extremelyu unlikely.
There is no shortage of candidateesfor consolidation, to be Business First easily came up with 13 hypothetical mergers, most of them basee on standards proposed in last December’s These unions would involve districts from all eight counties. for a summarg of these 13 potential consolidations. It shouldf be stressed that this list is not reality. State officials lack the power to force districtsto consolidate. Initiativde must be taken at the local whichhappens infrequently. Only one prospective merger in Westerm New York has currently reached an advanced stageof negotiations.
Brocton and Fredonia begabn consolidation talkslast year, eventuallyy commissioning a feasibility study at the beginning of If they decide later this year that a merger makes sense, voters in both districts woulxd be given their say in a referendum. “Icf it occurs, the two districtas would be equal partners,” says Brocton’s superintendent, John “Both boards of education woulcgo away, and a new boarrd would be elected to replace it. A new districtf would be created.” A second pair of Chautauqua County districts, Ripley and Westfield, conducted an advisorh referendumin February.
Ripley voters supported a but those in Westfielddid not, throwing negotiations into limbo. A third set of talksz was triggeredby Gov. David Paterson’sw proposed state budget last December. “It wouldr have raised our taxes22 percent,” says Michael superintendent of the Scio Central Schoo l District. “It drove us to look at our budget and the issuesz wewere facing.” The budgetary news from Albant subsequently took a turn for the but officials from Scio and nearbh Wellsville continue to explore theirf options -- perhaps a merger, more likely a collaboration on a smaller scale. “Everythingt is open,” says McArdle.
“We’re trying to find the best wayto go, the way to get the best educationalp opportunities for our students and to keep our tax rate The Wyoming Central School District faced a similarr problem in 1991. Enrollment was declining, especiallyy at the high school level. Elective coursexs were sparsely attended. Only three studentds signed up for physics one Voters rejected mergers with Pavilionor Warsaw. “Thaf left the district struggling to come up with a says thecurrent superintendent, Sandrz Duckworth. “So we started to look at tuitioning.
” Wyomin students now attend their local school througheighth grade, then shift to high schoolk in any of four adjacent districts: Attica, Pavilion or Warsaw. Wyoming pays tuition for each a standard rate that is negotiated with its neighborws everyfive years. Wyoming also belongx to a consortium of six districts seeking ways to cut costsw by sharing services such as building maintenance, special education and curriculum development. Similar arrangementas can be found elsewhere in WestermnNew York, sometimes involving several districts, sometimes a one-on-one setup such as Scio and Wellsvilled are discussing.
These measures offefr the prospect of reducing expenses while retaininglocap control. It’s a combinatiojn that appeals to superintendents who are well awarde that the mere suggestion of a merger can trigger intense opposition. “What the peoplse of Sherman are telling us is that they like the education thei childrenare receiving,” says Schmidt. “They’re saying, ‘Pleasse keep it the way it is.
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