School mergers are more than finding the right match (Beaver County Times)

Larissa Theodore

Feb. 8, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- In his budget address last year, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell proposed a plan to consolidate the state's 500 school districts into no more than 100. The idea was that fewer school districts would lighten the local property tax burden. Now a year later, that plan is officially dead in the water.

The governor proposed to have a legislative committee come up with a school district reorganization plan, but Gary Tuma, Rendell's spokesman, said the plan never made any progress in the Legislature. In August, the Senate Education Committee had a public hearing on a proposed statewide school consolidation bill, similar to the governor's plan. But SB 833 never moved out of committee.

With so many current budget priorities, Tuma said the governor's consolidation proposal isn't on the forefront of his agenda.

"He still thinks it's a good idea," Tuma said.

LACK OF INCENTIVES

Research released by the Pennsylvania School Board Association concludes that legislative mandates for statewide consolidations or mergers are not sound policy, and that local districts not only should have a choice, but incentives should be created to encourage voluntary mergers.

There weren't any incentives in place when Center Area and Monaca school districts voluntarily merged last year.

Michael Thomas, superintendent of merger affairs, said the state did provide the former districts $500,000 early on in the process to assist with one-time costs. The merged Central Valley district was promised another $300,000 in state funding for additional support, he said.

Thomas said Central Valley would like to talk with state officials again concerning some additional financial support.

Local superintendents say a lack of specific incentives is why many districts are hesitant to initiate a voluntary merger.

Freedom Area Superintendent Ron Sofo said economic incentives must be available to help districts get over the initial transition as two separate financial entities. Schools have a great deal to work through, he said, including how much debt each district carries, and what the financial burden would be for the communities involved.

"Who would want to take on a district in financial or educational distress and assume overnight the challenges that presents without some incentive?" Sofo asked.

DISSOLVING BOUNDARIES

Michael Race, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said Center Area and Monaca are the only districts statewide to have merged voluntarily so far. He said the department worked closely with the merging districts, offering help with studies on finances and academics, as well as legal issues. The Center Area-Monaca merger spurred interest among other school districts, Race said.

"We've made ourselves available to other districts that have had questions about potential mergers," Race said.

Thomas said there have been snags along the way, such as tax and legal issues, but overall, school officials are pleased with the results.

"We tried to plan as best we could for the merger, and certainly there were things that did happen."

New Brighton Area Superintendent David Pietro said dissolving boundaries requires the cooperation of two school boards, as well as two districts in close proximity, where bus transportation, sporting events and other factors could be kept convenient for both communities. He likened merging to marriage.

"It's a long-term commitment and you need to make sure it's right for both parties. Bigger is not always better, and it's very difficult to make those types of decisions that are going to affect the community for years to come," he said.

New Brighton Area, which has about 1,750 students, down from 2,021 five or six years ago, casually talked about merging when Center Area and Monaca took the step. But Pietro said there haven't been any serious discussions.

Sofo said Freedom Area also discussed a merger, looking at potential positives for the district, but there weren't many considering Freedom Area is academically and financially progressing, he said.

"I'm not saying it's impossible, but it takes some courageous leadership and persistence to get it done. What do we gain in merging at this time? We haven't been able to answer that question," Sofo said.

COMPATIBLE BACKGROUNDS

Many residents aren't immediately willing to give up the district where they chose to purchase a home. Compatibility is also important. Sofo said the process of merging is less stressful for school districts that share similar community ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and are in close proximity to one another.

From a financial standpoint, Sofo said Monaca and Center didn't face as many of the hurdles other school districts might, and some thorny issues, such as the mercantile tax, still arose.

Freedom Area has about 590 students in four school buildings, with approximately 1,635 students overall, including special needs and charter school pupils. That's a drop of nearly 400 students from the 1994-95 school year. The district was at its peak with about 3,400 students in the 1970s.

Just as economics had a part in the enrollment drop, Sofo believes the economics of public education will be the driving force of whether or not additional mergers occur. If the state decided to limit subsidies to districts with more than 2,000 students, for example, many schools almost would be forced to merge, Sofo said. And if enrollments continue to drop, while tax bases remain the same or wither, more schools may have to begin taking mergers seriously.

"If you can't afford to pay the heat bill, the light bill, your teachers, mergers may be the only way out," Sofo said.

Larissa Theodore can be reached online at ltheodore@timesonline.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0208-41888247