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By DAVE EMKE Special to the OBSERVER What would happen if the number of school districts in Chautauqua County were reduced from 18 to 11? According to a study released recently by the University at Buffalo Regional Institute, the six consolidations that would be needed, along with 14 other consolidations of similarly sized schools across Western New York, would save the eight-county region $133 million in school budgetary costs. For the purposes of the study, adjacent districts with enrollments under 1,000 students were fused into new units with enrollments of more than 1,000. In most cases, this involved putting two or three small districts together; in others, a small district was annexed into a larger neighbor. The six hypothetical mergers the study imagines in Chautauqua County are as follows: ¯ Ripley and Westfield ¯ Clymer, Panama and Sherman ¯ Chautauqua Lake and Bemus Point ¯ Brocton and Fredonia ¯ Forestville and Pine Valley ¯ Falconer and Frewsburg Citing previous reports that mergers in the smallest districts offer the biggest savings potential and that high schools with 600 to 900 students provide the best learning environment for students, the study posits that merging small schools into larger ones would pay off both financially and educationally. ‘‘Because districts with small enrollments typically have higher administrative costs per pupil, sacrifice economies of scale and struggle to provide a full range of educational offerings, they stand to gain the most from mergers,’’ it reads. Tom Schmidt, Sherman Central School superintendent, says his school is doing just fine despite a total enrollment of fewer than 500 students. Business First rankings back him up, consistently placing his district highly despite the low enrollment, high youth poverty rate and a relatively low cost-per-pupil figure. ‘‘I don’t know how you can make generalization-type statements that say if you have between 600 and 900 students, you have the best high school,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘I can see where maybe they would say they can offer more courses and you can get to know all the students because it’s still not a large school, but you just have to adjust and be willing to do what you need to do in a small school, and that’s what we’re doing.’’ SPENDING MONEY TO SAVE MONEY? The study admits that merging isn’t free, as any savings would be partially offset by the increased costs of having a larger school district. Costs can be significant if mergers require new facilities and more busing, researchers state. ‘‘Generous state aid can ease merger pangs in the short term, but long-term maintenance and debt costs can add up,’’ the study reads. ‘‘And if pay scales between districts are uneven, mergers often result in a ‘leveling-up’ to the higher scale, negating personnel costs — the biggest slice of any budget — as a source of savings.’’ Schmidt says he is not sure how the study came to any conclusions about the amount of money that could be saved, as individual examinations of the inner workings of districts would need to be done in each instance to determine what, if any, cost savings would exist. ‘‘I’m not sure if it does save money,’’ he said. ‘‘UB has done this study, but they did not contact any of us that I know of for our opinions, our thoughts or how we manage things or how our administration and schools are set up at this time. It’s tough to say how they came up with their figures without any knowledge about us.’’ What the study does not take into account, Schmidt said, is that many rural districts such as his can make it work on a tight budget with attention to detail and solid understanding of student needs. ‘‘What does it is that we have an excellent staff that treats all their students like their family, that’s how I see it,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘We have families in the Sherman district who care about what is going on with their students ... and the kids are amazing. They take care of each other. You put all that together and you have a formula for success. We try to offer courses that our students need to be successful in life, and we try to offer courses that the students in our community need.’’ THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION Looking deeper into the future, the report theorizes that local school districts may become obsolete as technology continues to grow and bring communities together. ‘‘By the middle of this century, the idea of physically transporting students to a big centralized school may seem as hopelessly outdated as the dusty one-room schoolhouse seems today,’’ it reads. ‘‘In any conversation about reform of school governance, anticipating the future is just as important as reacting to contemporary conditions.’’ The report lists several questions which must be considered when thinking farther into the future of education, including how such education would be governed, whether local property taxes would continue to fund it, and the necessity for districts and school boards in such a society. That scenario may be decades in the future, but steps are already being taken in that direction — as well as into the direction of consolidation — through distance learning classrooms. ‘‘The creation of regional distance learning networks is one of the more widespread practices aimed at expanding educational opportunities by bridging the geographic and cultural distances between schools, providing greater access to the region’s best teachers and drawing the critical mass of students necessary to make many courses feasible,’’ the study reads. Schmidt says the use of distance learning in his district helps it retain its identity while giving students an opportunity to learn from beyond the district boundaries and, at the same time, virtually bringing outside students to Sherman teachers who can share their skills. ‘‘We offer classes out of Sherman in the music field, we offer classes out in agriculture and studies like that, and we bring some other courses in that we can use,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘We’re looking to add to that list.’’ Beyond that, Schmidt says the sky is the limit when imagining what the future may bring. ‘‘Today’s technology is old tomorrow,’’ he said. ‘‘There is online learning we can do through different means, so that’s a possibility ... How far into the future do you want to go? We could teleport our students from one place to another.’’ While the superintendent was only joking about Star Trek-style of education, and while the Clymer-Panama-Sherman and other consolidations in the report are purely hypothetical, Schmidt said talks are in place between his district and its neighbors about working together to provide more opportunities for students. ‘‘We are in the process of looking at how we can share students with other school districts so that we can maintain the identity of Sherman Central School and yet maybe have some increased offerings for the students of Sherman and possibly Panama and Clymer,’’ he said. ‘‘They can take things we offer and they don’t and vice versa.’’ For the purposes of the study, adjacent districts with enrollments under 1,000 students were fused into new units with enrollments of more than 1,000. In most cases, this involved putting two or three small districts together; in others, a small district was annexed into a larger neighbor. The six hypothetical mergers the study imagines in Chautauqua County are as follows: ¯ Ripley and Westfield ¯ Clymer, Panama and Sherman ¯ Chautauqua Lake and Bemus Point ¯ Brocton and Fredonia ¯ Forestville and Pine Valley ¯ Falconer and Frewsburg Citing previous reports that mergers in the smallest districts offer the biggest savings potential and that high schools with 600 to 900 students provide the best learning environment for students, the study posits that merging small schools into larger ones would pay off both financially and educationally. ‘‘Because districts with small enrollments typically have higher administrative costs per pupil, sacrifice economies of scale and struggle to provide a full range of educational offerings, they stand to gain the most from mergers,’’ it reads. Tom Schmidt, Sherman Central School superintendent, says his school is doing just fine despite a total enrollment of fewer than 500 students. Business First rankings back him up, consistently placing his district highly despite the low enrollment, high youth poverty rate and a relatively low cost-per-pupil figure. ‘‘I don’t know how you can make generalization-type statements that say if you have between 600 and 900 students, you have the best high school,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘I can see where maybe they would say they can offer more courses and you can get to know all the students because it’s still not a large school, but you just have to adjust and be willing to do what you need to do in a small school, and that’s what we’re doing.’’ SPENDING MONEY TO SAVE MONEY? The study admits that merging isn’t free, as any savings would be partially offset by the increased costs of having a larger school district. Costs can be significant if mergers require new facilities and more busing, researchers state. ‘‘Generous state aid can ease merger pangs in the short term, but long-term maintenance and debt costs can add up,’’ the study reads. ‘‘And if pay scales between districts are uneven, mergers often result in a ‘leveling-up’ to the higher scale, negating personnel costs — the biggest slice of any budget — as a source of savings.’’ Schmidt says he is not sure how the study came to any conclusions about the amount of money that could be saved, as individual examinations of the inner workings of districts would need to be done in each instance to determine what, if any, cost savings would exist. ‘‘I’m not sure if it does save money,’’ he said. ‘‘UB has done this study, but they did not contact any of us that I know of for our opinions, our thoughts or how we manage things or how our administration and schools are set up at this time. It’s tough to say how they came up with their figures without any knowledge about us.’’ What the study does not take into account, Schmidt said, is that many rural districts such as his can make it work on a tight budget with attention to detail and solid understanding of student needs. ‘‘What does it is that we have an excellent staff that treats all their students like their family, that’s how I see it,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘We have families in the Sherman district who care about what is going on with their students ... and the kids are amazing. They take care of each other. You put all that together and you have a formula for success. We try to offer courses that our students need to be successful in life, and we try to offer courses that the students in our community need.’’ THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION Looking deeper into the future, the report theorizes that local school districts may become obsolete as technology continues to grow and bring communities together. ‘‘By the middle of this century, the idea of physically transporting students to a big centralized school may seem as hopelessly outdated as the dusty one-room schoolhouse seems today,’’ it reads. ‘‘In any conversation about reform of school governance, anticipating the future is just as important as reacting to contemporary conditions.’’ The report lists several questions which must be considered when thinking farther into the future of education, including how such education would be governed, whether local property taxes would continue to fund it, and the necessity for districts and school boards in such a society. That scenario may be decades in the future, but steps are already being taken in that direction — as well as into the direction of consolidation — through distance learning classrooms. ‘‘The creation of regional distance learning networks is one of the more widespread practices aimed at expanding educational opportunities by bridging the geographic and cultural distances between schools, providing greater access to the region’s best teachers and drawing the critical mass of students necessary to make many courses feasible,’’ the study reads. Schmidt says the use of distance learning in his district helps it retain its identity while giving students an opportunity to learn from beyond the district boundaries and, at the same time, virtually bringing outside students to Sherman teachers who can share their skills. ‘‘We offer classes out of Sherman in the music field, we offer classes out in agriculture and studies like that, and we bring some other courses in that we can use,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘We’re looking to add to that list.’’ Beyond that, Schmidt says the sky is the limit when imagining what the future may bring. ‘‘Today’s technology is old tomorrow,’’ he said. ‘‘There is online learning we can do through different means, so that’s a possibility ... How far into the future do you want to go? We could teleport our students from one place to another.’’ While the superintendent was only joking about Star Trek-style of education, and while the Clymer-Panama-Sherman and other consolidations in the report are purely hypothetical, Schmidt said talks are in place between his district and its neighbors about working together to provide more opportunities for students. ‘‘We are in the process of looking at how we can share students with other school districts so that we can maintain the identity of Sherman Central School and yet maybe have some increased offerings for the students of Sherman and possibly Panama and Clymer,’’ he said. ‘‘They can take things we offer and they don’t and vice versa.’’ Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com

 

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