BOCES interim superintendent outlines merger August 5, 2010
HFM BOCES Interim Superintendent Mark Vivacqua walked members of the Mayfield and Northville boards of education through the steps of the merger process during the boards’ second joint meeting, Wednesday, Aug. 4, at Mayfield Jr./Sr. High School. Both boards are exploring options for merging or sharing services.
According to Vivacqua, if the boards decide to move forward, the recommended first step is to conduct a formal merger study. The districts can apply for a Local Government Efficiency Grant to pay for the merger study, which costs $35,000. However, because of the state’s financial problems, Vivacqua says the grant money would not be available until January.
In the meantime, the boards can move forward with the “request for proposal” process for the study. Vivacqua says that merger studies are typically conducted by education consultants, including former superintendents who have been through the process. He said he could provide names of more than a dozen consultants the boards could choose among. Vivacqua also emphasized that the districts would assume no financial risks during the request for proposal process: The districts can specify in their request that the study would be contingent on receipt of the Local Government Efficiency Grant.
Many of the questions the board members posed at Wednesday’s meeting would be answered by a merger study, Vivacqua said. Two big questions that must be addressed are the likely financial impact on each district’s financials and the potential for improving academic programs. According to Vivacqua, the financial question has more to do with the districts’ current true-value tax rates than with any possible future savings. For instance, if one district had a tax rate of $6 per $1,000 of assessed value while the second district had a tax rate of $25 per $1,000, the state education commissioner would not support a merger: If the two districts combined, the resulting tax rate would be much higher than $6 per $1,000, placing an extraordinary burden on the taxpayers of that community. For the 2009-10 school year, Northville’s true-value tax rate was $7.65 and Mayfield’s was between $15.06 and $23.02, depending on the town of residence.
The merger study would be overseen by a Community Advisory Committee comprised of citizens from both school districts who would be selected by the boards of education and administration. Vivacqua recommended the boards advertise for volunteers for the committee through local newspapers, school newsletters and the districts’ websites.
When the merger study is completed, it would first be reviewed by the State Education Department and then presented to both boards of education. If the study concludes that a merger is a feasible option, both districts would be required to hold public discussion sessions and provide their residents with information about the potential merger.
If both boards decide to move forward with the process, each district would be expected to hold an advisory referendum, which is sometimes referred to as a “straw vote.” If this referendum is passed by residents of both districts, the state commissioner of education would establish the geographic borders of the merged district and call for a formal referendum. At this second referendum, voters would also choose how many members would serve on the school board of the merged district – either five, seven or nine members. If residents of both districts pass the second referendum, the commissioner would call for a special meeting to elect a board of education for the merged district.
Vivacqua explained that mergers are lengthy processes that require at least 12 months to complete, and that any merged school district must begin operations on July 1 of a given year because of the education fiscal cycle. In the case of Northville and Mayfield, the earliest the two districts could expect to merge would be July 1, 2012.
The boards have scheduled their next meeting for 5 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 31, in Northville.