Another District Merger?

He's an article from the Harrisburg Patriot-News covering the results of a merger between two Dauphin County school districts.

They're doing it wrong! There's been a year-long study on the feasibility of such a merger. Our current school board has shown us this is not the way to do it. Why spend money on feasibility and plans when "Just Do It!" ain't just for Nike anymore. Get it done and stop wasting time. Let's move on!

Merger decision to take time, 2 say
Sunday, September 14, 2008
BY PHYLLIS ZIMMERMAN
For The Patriot-News

Despite more than a year of speculation, the Halifax and Millersburg school districts won't soon decide about a possible consolidation, school officials say.

"Unfortunately, I cannot speculate on when such an action could take place," Halifax school board President Todd Hoover said. "This is a monumental decision and we want to take as much time as is necessary to make what we believe to be the decision that is best for the students, residents and taxpayers, faculty and staff of both districts."

Millersburg Superintendent Sheree-Lee Knorr echoed Hoover's assessment.

The Halifax and Millersburg school boards agreed in April 2007 to participate in a study done by the Pennsylvania Economy League to examine a possible consolidation. That study was completed about a year ago, providing three proposed options for a merger and a fourth option for the districts to share buildings but remain separate.

The districts would save money by eliminating duplicate services and buildings and offering more opportunities for students.

In early 2008, the districts commissioned EI Associates to conduct more studies of Millersburg and Halifax that projected the costs or savings for each district without consolidating.

"We felt that the Pennsylvania Economy League study didn't give us all the information that we needed to make a baseline comparison of both districts. We felt we really needed additional information -- would consolidating really bring us cost savings?" Halifax Superintendent Robert Hassinger said.

The second study examined three proposed scenarios for each district, such as upgrading buildings with no additional space and upgrading buildings while adding space "we feel we need," Hassinger said.

The study's third component examined adding "building space for additional programs that we felt we would be nice to have but not necessary," Hassinger said. "Now we're just looking at the studies to see what it's telling us. It's not a clear-cut decision."

A merger would turn Dauphin County's two smallest districts into a midsized one with about 2,100 students.

The proposed merger would be the first in the state in 30 years.

WHAT'S NEXT

The school boards plan to continue discussing the studies. WHEN AND WHERE
# The Halifax School Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in the high school conference room, 3940 Peters Mountain Road.
# The Millersburg School Board will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 in the district board room, 799 Center St.
PUBLIC COMMENT School officials said they would like to hold more public forums but have yet to set dates.