11/01/2007 School Consolidation Forum

 York Village Elementary School, York, Maine

(9 people were present, including the facilitator and one reporter)

REPORT

Below you will find what the participants wrote down.

 

 

THREE ROUNDS OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MERGERS

 

Round One: What aspects of the school mergers might be appealing?

Start by writing down a few thoughts on this yellow sheet, then share them in a go-round at your table.

á          State wide benefits

á          The possibility of a more diverse and rich school experience for the students

á          Enrich and enhance curricular opportunities

á          Creation of magnet schools or special programs

á          Economics of scale could allow creation of new offerings

á         The State would have a more manageable number of districts to oversee

á         The State would have lower costs

á         There wont be as many CitizenÕs Initiatives to lower taxes across the state (such as TABOR + Polesky)

á         Expensive special education programs may be consolidated (like autism program which is expensive) however, bus rides would be longer

á         Maybe economics of scale

á         Renewed look at curriculum district wide to enable improvements

á         Opportunities for administrative efficiencies

á         Magnet type schools, special education, adult education and similar programs can be expanded

 

Round Two: What aspects of the school merger might be worrisome?

Start by writing down a few thoughts here, then share them in a go-round at your table.

á          Will the cost justify the benefit?

á          Potential loss of local control over curricula

á          Will larger districts be as manageable?

á          Schools could close in the long run

á          Loss of highly qualified staff (e.g., administration)

á          Loss of small town character

á          The York School system would be changed and it works well

á          The Town of York would have to change itÕs system which works well and pay more to do it

á          Contract consolidation would be an upcoming cost

á          Borders of towns would not be respected because we would be one district and citizens may not accept that

á          May actually cost municipalities more

á          Transportation costs and time may increase

á          Community scale may change Ð less local and individual family oriented

á          Loss of control

á          Loss of community

á          Why fix a school district that is not broken

á          I love the York School system the way it is

á          Division of votes of new school board

á          Loss of local identity/performance of a school system

á          Loss of small-town, community feel of school system

 

Round Three: What other comments, opinions, or questions would you like to share? Do you have suggestions for the next forum, which will include presentations by leaders?

 

á          Volunteer burn-out as the consolidation committees move forward working on plans that are shifty

á          Can we eliminate financial disincentives?

á          Local resources are a great asset. How can we preserve the best people, teachers and administrators?

á          Transparency in finance must be included in the process

á          Òlayers of resistanceÓ

á          Finances

á          Local control

á          Performance

á          What bothers me about the discussion is the sense that the townÕs interests are completely separate from the interests of other towns.  I believe it is in YorkÕs interest to be sure that the students in surrounding towns are given opportunities to live up to their potential fully as much as are YorkÕs students able to live up top theirs.