Sharing school leader leads to other cost savings

LPS and West Amwell may share a business administrator

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   Two elementary schools have found their new deal to share a superintendent is leading to other benefits.
   Lambertville Public School and West Amwell Township Elementary School have shared a superintendent, Todd Fay, since July 1. The arrangement has been such a success, according to Dr. Fay, that now he and the schools’ respective boards have begun looking at ways to share more services.
   ”In every way, shape or form, it has worked out very well,” he said. “It was kind of theoretical a few years ago. Now it’s a lot clearer there is more we can do together.”
   At first, the dual role was hectic, and Dr. Fay drove back and forth between the two school buildings daily. Now he’s settled into a schedule that he said works well.
   It puts him in West Amwell on Monday and Wednesday and in Lambertville on Tuesday and Thursday. He divides Friday between the two, spending a part of the day in each school.
   Now the two schools are contemplating sharing a business administrator as well.
   ”That’s significant because it will save a great deal of money,” Dr. Fay said. “That’s significant because it’s never been done before.”
   Lambertville’s business administrator, Toni Slack, is scheduled to retire Jan. 1. West Amwell has employed an interim business administrator, Susan Sommerfeld, since the departure of Richard Kilpatrick last year.
   The move also could be significant in another respect. School boards across New Jersey worry they will be forced to regionalize by the state in the future.
   Dr. Fay said he expects the move will “probably” come one day, and school officials believe it would be better for the schools to stay ahead of the curve, having an infrastructure in place they can work with before that happens.
   ”Curriculum articulation is the focus of both schools,” Dr. Fay said.
   Students from LPS and West Amwell will be on the same page when they enter South Hunterdon Regional High School in seventh grade.
   For example, a K-12 science curriculum has been in place for a year. The schools are working on a K-12 math curriculum now, looking at appropriate materials that include textbooks and computer software.
   With a K-12 curriculum, sharing with other districts that could include the high school, districts would likely find “some nice cost-savings” when they order materials from publishers, Dr. Fay said.
   The elementary schools have been consulting South Hunterdon Vice Principal Michael Godown about the curriculum.
   Another potentially large area where school districts could save money is health care.
   ”All boards are interested in health-care costs,” Dr. Fay said. “Is there a way we could go into a venture together?”
   No answer is available now, but the schools are exploring the possibility together with their respective municipalities.
   The sharing of services is in its infancy.
   ”It is a process, and we’ve begun by sharing me, and, logically, we’ll go into other things,” Dr. Fay said. “There may be a time when we can share a teacher.”
   The possibilities are “almost endless,” he said.