Questions About Regionalization: Superintendent's Response

“For those who have not been able to attend meetings on regionalization, would you address that issue in a separate post? It seems like you are a big proponent of regionalization. What are the next steps to regionalization? What are the benefits to regionalizing? There must also be some drawbacks--what are they? If we regionalize how soon could we see the benefits?”    
 - Amy Borezo

Thank you Amy!

Regionalization meetings have typically been lightly attended since I took over for Dr. Namin in 2009. The topics of the meetings are complex as they deal mostly with education and finance laws, and local and state governmental bodies. Typical conversations at these meetings are around school finance, school committee composition, costs associated with transition, and local politics. While these meetings are full of information and discussion, they can be rather drab for those not directly involved in the conversations.

When I came to Mahar in 2007, I could not say that I was a proponent of regionalization, and I cannot say that I was against it either. At that time I was the Director of Special Education and at first, only concerned myself with the issues that were right in front of me. I looked at the Orange Elementary, Petersham Center, and Swift River Schools as I would look at any neighboring district as I moved from being a classroom aid, to teacher, to administrator. I looked forward to meeting with Dr. Burnim, Dr. Conway, Mrs. Hunter, Mr. Haigh, Dr. Martin, and Mrs. Phillips as students were transitioning from the elementary systems to the secondary system.

Truth be told, we worked together quite a bit to ensure that Mahar’s incoming seventh graders would be greeted with educational programs tailored to their individual needs. In the Spring of 2008 I recall driving down to Butterfield Elementary School to meet with parents and students who would be leaving Orange Elementary in Grade 6 and coming to Mahar for grade 7. That was the first time that the effects of being in a split region dawned on me. I was driving just a few blocks to go see students in a separate school district, and our town had two school Superintendents just blocks away. We also had two special education administrators, two central offices, and well…two of everything quite frankly. I thought about adding Petersham and Swift River to the mix and actually having four of everything.

When I was a teacher at Niagara Falls High School in Niagara Falls, NY the student population of the school was more than 3,000. There were more than a dozen schools in the Niagara Falls City Schools, and they had only one superintendent, one special education administrator, and one central office. I thought about doing four grant applications instead of one, four weekly payrolls instead of one, having four packages for data management instead of one, for directors of facilities, four technology administrators, four cafeteria managers, and…four of everything – all for about 1,800 students. When I worked in Niagara Falls there were nearly 10,000 students in the district! So slowly, with much thought and research, I did become a serious proponent of the regionalization of our schools.

I learned that while some local leaders looked to regionalize Mahar, Orange, Petersham and Swift River in a single Pre-K – 12 region, other local leaders took an active stance against it. I attended meetings, read documents, and educated myself about both sides of this argument. I found all of the places in which regional efforts have fallen down in the past. And I learned how complicated this issue really, really is.

I originally believed that we just had to merge on paper. I thought that once a regional agreement was put together everyone would just vote and that would be that. I could see quite clearly how it would be better for education and better for finances, and I figured everyone else would see that too. Then reality set in…

First, if we were to regionalize several people would be out of jobs. All of the “fours” that I mentioned above would become “ones.” There would be only one school committee, so instead of eighteen school committee members there would be only eleven. Healthcare plans, teaching contracts, and non-teaching contracts would all have to be merged. Finally, in cases where our four separate districts do business with four separate companies, there would be only one company with whom we did business for each good or service we use. Sure, there is cost savings in each of these, but with the cost savings come individual winners and unfortunate losers.

We began regionalizing by consolidating. When I became the Superintendent, Dr. Conway became the Special Education Administrator for Petersham, Orange, and Mahar. With this we have and continue to respect the wishes of the Towns of Wendell and New Salem to remain an independent Pre-K -6 school district. In 2010 Wendell and New Salem funded education 43.1% higher than the minimum required Net School Spending amount. The Swift River School received $391,919.00 more than Net School Spending. They clearly have a great thing going there.

Consolidation at a Glance

Special Education Administration: Merged 2010 – One Special Education Administrator and Special Education Office for three school districts.

Central Office: Merged July 1, 2011 – One Superintendent and one Central Office for three school districts.

Maintenance: To be voted September 2011

Technology: To be voted September 2011

Cafeteria Services: To be voted September 2011

Health Care Plans: Orange, Petersham, and Mahar on same health care plan – MIIA (Blue Cross/Blue Shield)

Next Step: Information Sessions for Voters to understand the proposed regional agreement so that it can be presented to the townspeople for their vote in the Fall of 2011. First session to be held October 13, 2011 at Mahar at 7:00 PM.

There are a number of benefits to regionalizing that would take effect on July 1, 2012 with the affirmative vote of the Towns of New Salem, Orange, Petersham, and Wendell. I will separate these into two categories; financial and educational.

Financial Benefits

Regional Transportation Reimbursement: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts reimburses regional school districts for the transportation of its students. This year the rate of reimbursement was 57.59%. For every $100,000.00 a school district spent on transportation in 2011, $57,590.00 will be given to the regional school as a source of revenue in fical year 2012. In fiscal year 2012 the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School is projected to spend $572,560.00 on transportation and expects to receive $329,737.00 from the state for fiscal year 2013.. Orange Elementary is projected so spend approximately $300,000.00 on transportation in fiscal year 2012 and because it is not a regional district, reimbursement from the state will be $0.00. A regionalized Orange Elementary would receive an additional $172,770.00. These are funds that the district would receive every year.

Bonus Aid: The state has allocated bonus aid for regionalization to the tune of $50.00 per pupil. Orange, Petersham, and Mahar are projected to have around 1,800 students in the next academic year. So if regionalized we would receive a one-time payment of $90,000.00.

Cost Savings: There are cost savings in every consolidated position, merger of purchasing agreements, and increased dollars available in grants for a larger district. I will be presenting these amounts at the informational session on October 13, 2011 at 7:00 PM here at Mahar.

Educational Benefits

A strong elementary focus can now be held by the overseer of elementary education found in the Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education. Prior to the creation of this position, Dr. Burnim had to oversee all of the financial, facility, state reporting, and personnel decisions in the district, leaving little or no time for education.

Professional development can be shared among all three districts in the generation of common languages and themes for student learning.

A Pre-K through Grade 12 curriculum can be created that is the same for ALL learners.

Uniform preparation of students can be ensured – meaning that seventh grade at Mahar is the same for all students, no matter which town they come from.

From my perspective it is very difficult to see drawbacks. I can see the complexities of getting the regionalization approved, but drawbacks are hard to find. Right now I see school buildings in Orange that need to be repaired, technology that needs to be enhanced, professional development for teachers that needs to take place, teachers who we need to return to work, test scores that need to improve, and textbooks that need to be purchased.

In Petersham I see a school funding formula that is teetering. While the number of school choice students at Petersham Center is a badge of honor, these students are funded at a level that is significantly less than that of students who live in the town in which they are educated.

At Mahar I see seventh grade MCAS scores that have yet to be adequately addressed. To improve seventh grade scores, we must interact with the curriculum in grade 6. To improve 6th grade MCAS scores we must improve practices in grade 5, and so on.

To me Regionalization can be explained as an endeavor of transformation. If accepted it will bring about a change in our system and a changes in individuals who work therein. If we continue at our current pace, state takeover of our schools is a real possibility in the coming years. The state and federal government have set standards that we are not meeting. In not meeting these standards, our students are the people who will suffer. We can be better together, and regionalization is the road to this taking place.