From the BCCT.
This is from New Jersey, but could be written from downtown Morrisville.
Eastampton eyes school regionalization
By MARK ZIMMARO
Burlington County Times
EASTAMPTON — At a Township Council meeting on Monday, school board members informed residents of the possibility their district could be one of many statewide to be regionalized and consolidated in the near future.
About 150 residents gathered at the Eastampton Community School to listen
to updates on the regionalization plan that is to be completed by Executive County Superintendent Lester Richens by March 2010. The meeting was moved to the school from the Eastampton Manor House to accommodate the large crowd.
Eastampton Board of Education President Sue Taylor led the discussion at
the council meeting to inform residents about the plan, which is in its early stages.
The council did not take any action on the matter, since the presentation was intended to inform the public about the possibility that the district could be consolidated, Taylor said.
“The reason for the meeting [Monday] night was to talk to council and the public and encourage people to get out and be informed of what’s going on,” she said.
Taylor was chosen to participate on a task force organized by Richens. One member from each of the county’s 42 school districts was selected to participate on the task force, which will consult directly with Richens regarding the process.
According to Taylor, Richens’ objective is to develop a plan that will create prekindergarten to grade 12 school districts throughout the county, each housing approximately 5,000 students.
According to Richens, only Burlington Township, Moorestown, Pemberton
Township and Willingboro fit that model. The plan is expected to provide an overall cost savings in the operation of the schools but it hasn’t been determined which districts would be affected.
Richens will submit his plan to Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy by March 2010. The plan then will be accepted, rejected or amended and sent back to
each town. Voters will determine if they feel the plan best suits their town.
“For instance, if they want to combine the [Rancocas Valley] district, all five sending towns would have to agree or it won’t go through,” Taylor said.
The concern among Eastampton residents is the Eastampton Community
School, which is less than two years old and is the only school in the district.
“We just fought for the new school and we’re paying a lot of taxes on it,” said resident Tracy Fitzgerald. “We also don’t want to have to bus our kids out of the community to go to school. We have an awesome little town here where everybody knows everybody and we want to keep it that way.”
The school board is encouraging residents to attend a regionalization meeting next Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Eastampton Community School cafetorium.
“We’re trying to get the word out there to people and try to let other towns know that this is going on,” Taylor said. “I think other neighboring towns like Lumberton and Hainesport are starting to hear about this and it will be interesting to see what other sending districts have to say.”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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From today's BCCT.....
Bucks County Courier Times
The governor's proposal to eliminate 400 school districts goes a bit far, but the idea of merging some districts makes sense.
Among the many proposals outlined in Gov. Rendell's 2009-10 fiscal budget is one that is drawing screams of protest: paring the number of school districts in the state from 501 to 100.
Residents of states where school districts break along county lines probably would be flabbergasted to learn of Pennsylvania's ungainly system, where districts as large as Central Bucks and as small as Morrisville and Bristol co-exist.
We're not suggesting that all 13 Bucks districts would be better merged into one mega-district. Yet there are strong arguments to fold some smaller, struggling districts into their larger neighbors. A good example is Morrisville, which is surrounded by the Pennsbury School District. Fact is, Morrisville's schools are worn out, and local taxes are high.
There's been some discussion, though fruitless, about Pennsbury's absorbing Morrisville (the smallest district in the county), a move that would seem to make not only financial sense but which would improve the educational lot of Morrisville students.
At the same time, there is a great reluctance on the part of many established school districts, large and small, to yield so-called local control, which would necessarily happen if two or more districts were combined. Republican state Rep. Paul Clymer of Upper Bucks, who opposes school district consolidation, says "bigger is not always better" and that merging school districts "would take away community pride."
Maintaining such pride is coming at an ever-increasing price, however, not to mention the deterioration in the quality of education. Rendell believes having fewer school districts would be more efficient and saves millions of dollars.
There are small school districts that do quite well: New Hope-Solebury comes to mind. The district serves relatively affluent communities whose residents have the financial wherewithal to support what some might call an almost quasi-private district. We would guess opposition to merge would be especially strong in such districts. Perhaps the state could adjust public funding as a tradeoff for allowing certain districts to go their own way.
We don't know that 100 is the magic number for merged school districts, either. Cutting the current 501 half, an average of just under four per county, might work just as well.
The point is, Rendell's proposal should not be dismissed out of hand. It is an emotional issue, but emotions should not get in the way of a thorough review of how school district consolidation could be implemented to save money and make the schools better.
These are difficult times that demand some innovative thinking. We applaud the governor for his proposal and urge lawmakers and the public to give it fair consideration.
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