Talks begin on merging three school districts

County super to review options for Spotswood, M’town, Helmetta

BY VINCENT TODARO & BRIAN DONAHUE Staff Writers

School officials in Spotswood, Milltown and Helmetta will explore the possibility of consolidating their school districts in the coming years.

The discussion comes as the state has assigned each county’s executive school superintendent to develop proposals to merge school districts and services. The idea is to make all districts K-12 systems, thus doing away with those that send all or some regular education students to other districts.

Spotswood Board of Education President Rich O’Brien said his school district has corresponded with Middlesex County Executive Superintendent of Schools Patrick Piegari on the idea of consolidation. Spotswood currently educates all of Helmetta’s students and Milltown’s high school students on a tuition basis.

O’Brien said the state is pressing for consolidation in an effort to save taxpayers money on duplicate costs and positions. He said cost savings are possible as the result of a merger, but there are also risks and potential costs increases involved with such an undertaking.

“Governor Corzine and the Legislature are obviously looking to save taxpayer dollars. We are unsure how much money, if any, will be saved through consolidation, but our position is to make certain that it is not done at the expense of our students’ education,” O’Brien said.

Helmetta School Business Administrator Brian Savage said he and that borough’s Board of Education president are expecting to meet with Piegari over the next month so that he could gain a better understanding of the community and its school program.

“It’s a preliminary meeting to discuss the overall parameters,” Savage said, adding that Piegari “wants to get a feel for the community.” The meeting date had yet to be set as of Friday, but Savage said it would take place in Helmetta.

School officials in Milltown did not return phone calls for this story, but their Board of Education was expected to discuss the issue this week.

Frank Belluscio III, director of communications for theNew Jersey School Boards Association, said the discussions are the result of legislation approved last year and signed in April that established the position of county executive superintendent of schools, a post that holds greater authority than the prior county school superintendents. He said one responsibility of each new county official is to develop proposals, by March 2010, for configuring all school districts into K-12 systems.

The regionalization and shared service proposals will come after studies are completed regarding financial, tax and curriculum issues. Also, a task force is to be formed in each county to assist and advise the executive superintendents, Belluscio said. These panels are to include at least one representative from each school district.

Ultimately, any reconfiguring of school districts would only come about if approved by a majority of voters in each community, via a referendum, Belluscio said, citing the legislation.

O’Brien said a district like Helmetta is being targeted by the state because it is a non-operating district, meaning it has no schools and all public school students are sent to another district, Spotswood. Helmetta does employ part-time administrators and elects a three-member school board. In addition, a district like Milltown is being targeted because it only has schools for students in grades K-8.

O’Brien said he considers Spotswood fortunate to have partners such as Milltown and Helmetta, and that the school district operates in an economically sound fashion without consolidation.

“We already have administrators with more than one duty,” he said, adding that the district also uses interlocal agreements with the borough and enters purchasing agreements with other school districts.

“I think we operate the district as economically sound as we can, and we avoid redundancy,” O’Brien said.

The board, he said, is “taking a waitand see approach” to the consolidation issue.

It is possible for savings to be derived from combining duplicate areas like payroll systems, attendance systems and food service programs, he said.

“Redundant administrative positions could be eliminated, but all of those savings andmore could be wiped out when you consider that Spotswood may be burdened with a busing cost we currently don’t have,” O’Brien said. “And the cost of transportation is only going up.”

He said Piegari has indicated to local school officials that any eventual proposal he presents must be both educationally sound and fiscally responsible.

“We look forward to working with him to ensure the plan meets those criteria,” O’Brien said. “And we will work to keep all our students, parents and other taxpayers informed all along the way.”