FREDONIA/BROCTON SCHOOLS
2 students on panel support merger
The most intriguing statements of Saturday’s final meeting of the Brocton/ Fredonia District Consolidation Study Committee may have come from two Brocton high school students who are members of the committee.
Each student told the other members of the committee that, in the beginning, they opposed the idea of a merger of the two school districts.
But upon further investigation and study of information, they now support a merger.
One of the students said he believes the public “underestimates [the students’] ability to get along with other people,” referring to issues some fear could occur when the two student bodies combine.
The full committee was apprised Saturday of the contents of the last draft of the feasibility study. This final study document will go to the state education commissioner. If approved at the state level, the report will be returned to the two districts’ superintendents and boards of education, and a public meeting will be scheduled, perhaps as early as May, where the community will hear the study details and share their opinions. The study cannot be made public until state approval.
Several points were made during the committee discussion, including:
• The enrollment decline for the two districts combined now sits at 7.9 percent. This is expected to grow to 8.5 percent in the next five years.
• Brocton, because of its smaller tax base, relies more on state aid than does Fredonia. If state aid is reduced, Brocton would be greatly affected because its budget is more dependent on that aid.
• If the Brocton district’s operating costs outpace state aid, residents ability to fund the budget would be difficult in five years, according to Gerry Glose, a group facilitator of the Western New York Educational Service Council, which is preparing the study document.
• If a merger is approved, the combined Brocton/Fredonia district would get $3.2 million in incentive aid a year for the first five years. That aid would begin to phase out over the course of the next nine years, but the incentive money would be $30.7 million.
Also at Saturday’s meeting, it was noted that if a merger occurred and district superintendent and central office functions were combined, the new district would save about $250,000 annually.
If all of the secondary students in the combined district went to Fredonia, there would be another $100,000 savings in administration costs.
Moreover, if Fredonia’s Wheelock School, which includes pre-K through grade two, were closed, the total savings, including administration costs, would be $500,000 a year.
It also was noted that 4,000 surveys about the merger were distributed throughout the two districts, with only 175 being completed and returned. For more information about the merger, individuals may go to www.schoolstudy.wnyric.org .
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