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School District Shared Services, Regional High Schools and School District Consolidation. A STUDY FOR THE ST. LAWRENCE-LEWIS BOCES COMPONENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS. The Signs of a Looming Crisis. Expected decrease in financial support from New York State Expected increase in local taxation
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School District Shared Services, Regional High Schools and School District Consolidation A STUDY FOR THE ST. LAWRENCE-LEWIS BOCES COMPONENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS
The Signs of a Looming Crisis • Expected decrease in financial support from New York State • Expected increase in local taxation • Expected decrease in student enrollment • Continued community expectations for educational excellence
Conditions in New York Today • Economic • Population • Public Policy • Education Policy
Economic Conditions in New York Today • Downturn in State Economy Current FY 09 budget $2 billion shortfall Projected FY 10 budget shortfall an additional $5 billion • Federal stimulus funds depleted by June 2011
Population Conditions in New York Today Declining Student Enrollment • New York State school enrollments decline of 1% per year since 2000 • Net Outflow of people ages 20-34
Public Policy Conditions in New York Today N.Y.S. Commission on Property Tax Relief • Cap the annual growth of property tax levy at 4% or 120% of the CPI, whichever is less • Require consolidation of school districts with fewer than 1000 students and grant Commissioner of Education discretionary authority to order consolidation of school districts with fewer than 2000 pupils • Mandate relief • Reduce Special Education costs • Facilitate consolidation of back office services and regional high schools
Public Policy Conditions in New York Today N.Y.S. Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness • Empower the Education Commissioner to order school district mergers • Set up school restructuring committees to examine service sharing and consolidation • Authorize regional collective bargaining agreements for new hires
Education Policy Conditions in New York Today Higher Expectations for All Students • All Regents Programs • Graduation rates for students with disabilities expected to show significant improvement • Global education rates rising and posing a threat to our economic future
Charge to the Research Team Conduct a broad based needs assessment to determine opportunities for increasing shared services among school districts; options for establishing regional high schools and possibilities for school district mergers.
Content of the Consolidation Study • 10 year Enrollment projection • Three year financial analysis and three year projection (2 scenarios) • Demographic profile of St. Lawrence County • Analysis of business operations; transportation; food service; facilities management; human resources management; energy management and development of opportunities for sharing. • Analyze current use of technology for administration and instruction and recommend opportunities for growth and utilization
Analyze all dimensions of 9-12 instructional program and determine opportunities for sharing Generate options for a regional high schools Generate options for consolidating school districts
Study Methodology • Review of District Documents • Review of questionnaire responses • Interviews of selected staff • Team analysis and discussion
Proposed Project Schedule DateActivity 10/7/10 Supt and BOE meetings 10/15/10 Document requests to districts 10/10/10 – 12/10/10 First in-district meeting 11/15/10 Document return completed 12/1/10-3/15/11 Research, conferencing, writing First draft report from researchers 5/1-5/30/11 Second in-district meeting
6/15/11 Regional Meetings with School Districts 7/1/11 Final written report distributed 9/30/11 Concluding Public Meeting