Mayfield and Northville formally apply
October 22, 2010
The Mayfield and Northville school districts should know the status of
their application for a $35,000 Local Government Efficiency Grant by
December, according to Mayfield Superintendent Paul G. Williamsen.
The districts, which are exploring options for merging or sharing
services, formally applied for the grant which would help cover the cost
of a merger study.
“This is another key step in our exploration of sharing key services or
reorganizing our districts,” Williamsen said. “The incentives New York
State is offering are very good and we have to explore all of our
options and ultimately do what is best for our students.
"Even if the districts decide not to merge, we certainly could benefit
from the study if it revealed that we would do well to share this
service or that service."
The two boards met jointly for the fourth time in late September and
identified five questions their communities will likely want answered
during the study. Each district will also contribute $5,000 in “good
faith money” toward the cost of the study.
Merger studies are typically conducted by education consultants,
including former superintendents who have been through the process.
Reorganization studies typically take from six to nine months and
consist of six stages. The next step for the two boards will be to
choose a consultant group to conduct the merger study. The selected
consultant would not begin work on the merger study until after the
districts receive the grant.