Here's another good idea. Hope this catches on throughout the state. Theoretically, it should save lots of money on worthless administrators.
Meeting held to discuss school consolidations in Mendhams, Chesters, Washington Twp. 3:53 PM, Jun. 15, 2011 Written by CARA TOWNSEND Special to the Daily Record
Twenty-five municipal and school officials from the Mendhams, Chesters and Washington Twp. participated in an Educational Summit and agreed to look at different ways to configure their school systems, including having just two districts instead of the current five.
The stated purpose of the meeting Tuesday night at West Morris Mendham High School was to discuss possible consolidation and to reach a consensus on an educational model that would preserve academic excellence, while being mindful of fiscal realities.Dr. William Librera, former NJ commissioner of education and the executive director of the Rutgers Institute for Improving Student Achievement, moderated the discussion.
“I am aware of the many times in which the issues being discussed tonight have been raised before,” Librera said. “But this is the first time that policy makers have all found the time to get together to discuss them. We have to continue to work to find common ground.”
At the end of the four-hour meeting, the group voted by majority to look into the possibility of two separate K-12 school districts: one serving the Mendhams and the Chesters and the other serving Washington Township.
Currently, the Chester School District provides K-8 schooling for the Chesters, while Mendham, Mendham Twp. and Washington Twp. each have their own K-8 district. The five municipalities share a single regional district, West Morris Regional, with two high schools in it.
The group also voted to consider an idea introduced by Mendham Twp. resident Greg Quam, who proposed a K-12 district in Washington Twp. and a new 9-12 school for the Mendhams and Chesters, with K-8 remaining the same in the four municipalities.
In order to decide the best way to proceed with a possible consolidation, the group called upon the school districts to provide greater clarity as to district resource distribution to each municipality.
“First and foremost we need to address the issue of equity. We need to break down the money spent between the schools and focus on the revenue side and the cost to the tax payers,” said Samuel Tolley, deputy mayor of Mendham Twp.
According to Washington Twp. Mayor Kenneth Short, 81 percent of the current $7.1 million in state aid for the K-8 districts in the five municipalities goes to Washington Twp.
“We need to be sure that any change would still be providing the same excellence in education for the students,” Short said.
“Fairness is a big question here,” said Frank Cioppettini Jr., mayor of Mendham Twp. “Communities feel like they are subsidizing another community. There is a funding imbalance.”
The group voted by majority to come up with variations on altering the tax formula to split between per pupil cost and property tax.
Members of the summit also agreed that they would begin to look at the comparative advantages to regional education and what the financial impact would be for each municipality.
Chester Twp. Mayor William Cogger was optimistic about consolidation efforts: “If we can put something together that makes financial sense and maintains the high quality of education our students enjoy in our district, then I think we can work together.’’
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