One-third of BOE members interested in merging districts

On Board Online • September 24, 2012

By Paul Heiser
Senior Research Analyst

Interest in school mergers is growing among school board members, but they say their support would hinge on whether the merger would expand educational opportunities for students, according to the results of NYSSBA’s latest Pulse Poll, a survey of school board members conducted via email.

One-third of the responding school board members said their school district should consider merging with a neighboring district, while 60 percent did not. Seven percent of board members said their district had already recently merged or considered a merger.

Asked to name the most important factor when considering a school merger, nearly half of school board members surveyed – 47 percent – said that expanded educational opportunities is key. Cost savings through potential economies of scale were a somewhat lesser – but still significant – factor. One-third of school boards said that would be the most important factor in considering a school merger.

The poll did not ask what factors were involved in whether board members thought their district should merge or not. However, it did ask what the greatest barrier to merging with a neighboring district would be.

More than one-third of respondents – 35 percent – said the greatest barrier to merging with another district was a lack of community support, while 21 percent said the merger would not generate sufficient cost savings to make it worthwhile. Sixteen percent feared a loss of school district identity.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 13-17. The number of responses varied by question and ranged from 592 to 630. Because Pulse Poll is not a random survey, results are not considered scientific.

A planned merger by two Fulton County school districts – Mayfield and Northville – fell through when voters in Northville rejected the plan by a 2-to-1 ratio in a Sept. 18 straw vote, even as Mayfield residents approved the measure. That vote came a week after voters in the Ilion, Mohawk and Herkimer school districts passed a proposal to merge those three Herkimer County school districts. Voters there will return to the polls on Oct. 18 for a binding referendum on the merger.