1 Golden Bomber Dr.
Ilion, NY 13357
Phone: 315.894.9934
Fax: 315.894.2716
Superintendent
Committee looks at building configurations, school days, BOCES, transportation, and incentive aid
The Community Advisory Committee had a packed agenda for its July 6 meeting at Ilion Junior-Senior High School (view PDF of the agenda). The group continued its discussion of building configuration and began looking at the role of Herkimer BOCES, school days and times, and transportation.
Another look at building configurations and other merger considerations
The committee continued to wrestle with the leadership teams' choice of building configurations. With a goal of settling the issue, they broke into subcommittees and asked three separate panels of superintendents, secondary principals, or elementary principals questions. Following are samples of the questions:
How will the district select a building configuration?
The advisory committee will recommend a plan to the new school board that is educationally sound, cost effective, fits within existing building capacity, and is sensitive to transportation issues. It will be up to the board of education to review the plan and implement it or any other that its members feel is in the best interest of the students and the community.
Will all of the proposed elementary buildings accommodate pre-kindergarten classes?
Ilion is currently modifying Barringer Elementary for pre-k classes. Herkimer currently has only one morning and one afternoon pre-k class and might require some renovation. Mohawk and Frankfort-Schuyler currently house pre-k classes.
How will the district ensure that elementary students all learn the same material and are ready to move on to fifth grade?
The district will need a curriculum coordinator to be certain each year's content prepares students for the next.
Why not have two high schools to increase the number of teams and broaden sports opportunities for students?
The school administrators noted the following challenges to maintaining two high schools:
-
Splitting into two high schools might increase the number of teams in some sports such as basketball, but dividing the students would limit the expansion of new sports such as lacrosse or skiing.
-
Separate high schools would mean that students attend elementary school in their home communities, join together for grades 5-8, then split apart again for high school—an option no one supports.
-
Separate high schools would require the district to divert resources to duplicate programs in each building. That would reduce efficiency, raise costs, and ultimately limit the range of programs the schools could offer.
Will the Ilion auditorium house all high school students?
No, the auditorium has a capacity of 625 people. It could host any class level event. Large scale events would be held in the gymnasium.
Why create a school for fifth and sixth grade? Why not leave fifth grade with elementary and sixth grade with middle school/junior high?
The needs of children in this age group are very different from those of elementary and junior high students. A grades 5-6 building would allow the district to develop academic and social programs to meet age specific needs. For example, health classes or lessons in cybersecurity could be tailored to cover the topics most relevant to 10- and 11-year-olds. This configuration would better allow the school to focus students on a smooth transition as they prepare for junior high.
Combining just two years of students in one building also opens the doors to different teaching models such as traditional separate classrooms (as in elementary school), one course per room (as in junior high school), team teaching, or even one teacher who stays with one class for two years. Another possibility might be project-based instruction in which students work together across all disciplines (math, language arts, science, social studies, foreign language and the arts) to complete a large project. Project-based lessons more closely imitate the type of work people do in the 21st century. As one superintendent stated, "We can no longer prepare students for a 21st century workplace running a 19th century education model."
Would it be possible to keep the single grade 5-6 and single grade 7-8 plan, but switch buildings?
The leadership team's preferred plan would use Frankfort-Schuyler's secondary school for the proposed grades 5-6 building and Herkimer's secondary school for grades 7-8. CAC members suggested switching schools noting:
-
A grades 5-6 school in Herkimer would place the younger students in the more central location, shortening average bus rides.
-
Younger students are less image conscious and would likely make greater use of Herkimer's school swimming pool.
-
Frankfort-Schuyler's athletic fields are adjacent to the school benefitting the modified sports program.
What about transportation and long bus rides?
Transportation will be an issue regardless of the configuration. The simple fact is that most students would spend more time on a bus. The goal is to keep all bus routes under one hour.
Will transportation costs rise?
Elementary students may still walk to school, but eventually every child would ride a bus. In addition, the different schools would need staggered start times to physically get all the students to school each day. That would require more bus runs at added cost. With state aid, that would be approximately $600,000 for the first year. As the year progresses, and the transportation director reviews the runs and the number of students riding buses, that figure is expected to decrease. (View the preliminary look at school times and transportation (PDF))
Are there other challenges?
The biggest challenge is change.
Area residents are accustomed to four school districts that have delivered the same model of education for decades. Many children walk to the same buildings their parents or grandparents attended years ago.
Today, the reality is that schools are being asked to do more with less—to teach students to higher standards and to operate districts with less money. Schools must make major changes—changes that most people would rather not make—simply to survive. A recent report by the Statewide School Finance Consortium indicates that our four schools will lack the money to operate in three years or less. Even slashing educational programming and eliminating extracurricular activities and interscholastic sports, the districts can only survive another few years.
The communities must be willing to stand back and objectively look at how a merged district might look AND what will happen to their schools if there is no merger. That is the greatest challenge when considering a merger.
Will a merger save money?
The incentive aid and improved efficiencies will improve finances and the quality of education the district can deliver. That means slowing tax increases and broadening course offerings and services for students.
How much is the incentive aid?
The aid is calculated as a percentage of the general operating aid the four districts received in 2006-07. The new district would receive 40 percent of that figure ($7.6 million) each year for five years. The percentage would fall four percent each year (36 to 32 to 28, etc.) until reaching zero in fourteen years. (view PDF of estimated incentive aid calculations)
Can we trust the incentive aid figures?
At this point, it is in the state's political interest to promote mergers. The governor and legislators have stated that public agencies such as schools need to be more efficient to reduce costs. Merging and shared services (such as BOCES) are the best ways to achieve that goal. The legislature demonstrated that this is a big priority by increasing funding for merger studies from $5 million in 2010-11 to $79 million in 2011-12. Although there are no guarantees, it would appear incentive will continue into the foreseeable future.
The role of BOCES
Herkimer BOCES Superintendent Mark Vivacqua explained that local schools share the cost of running BOCES. He outlined the what services BOCES supplies and how districts take advantage of those services. (see the BOCES summary)
He noted that the four districts have worked hard to collaborate throughout the merger study process—and collaboration has not always been easy to accomplish. If the schools were to join, they would account for 50 percent of the students in the Herkimer BOCES. The new district would steer the direction of the BOCES through the students the district sends to BOCES.
Although he has no current opinion regarding the merger, he is excited by the opportunities a merger might create for students. Among the possibilities he sees are an alternative education program and increased participation in upper level BOCES classes such as Renewable Energy (a study of green technologies).
