BISD: state looking at merging school districts, should we?
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BISD: state looking at merging school districts, should we?
They decided to study the concept themselves so that they and the leaders of the other three school districts in Bee County can take preemptive action to ward off or limit any possible influence by the state.
BISD trustees discussed the concept during Monday’s meeting of the board.
“This is not an action item; this is strictly a discussion item,” Board President Nick Cardenas explained to all present.
The agenda item called for the board to review information on school district consolidation provided by Superintendent Dr. John Hardwick Jr.
Hardwick conducted some preliminary research into school district consolidation nationwide.
His findings: thousands of school districts across the country and many in Texas have consolidated in order to save more money and become more efficient.
Another ominous finding, he said: “The state is already doing research on school consolidation.” “What concerns me a little bit is the consolidation (research) that the state is doing and what the state may or may not impose on us” if it comes to the conclusion that school districts should be consolidated, he explained. “Do we want to take some local options ahead of the state saying you have got to do it this way or that way?”
Research, he said, shows that “people don’t want to lose local control of their schools. Do we need to begin to look at and understand the research (now) and look at the options?”
He said he is willing to take a closer look at the issue, and even seek out specific examples of successful and unsuccessful consolidation efforts to help the board in its deliberations.
“It could be the board wants to see more on it,” Hardwick said. “It could be that we, maybe, we want to hunt out somebody that’s been through this or done it to hear more about it in case we want to get ahead of the game if we sense (consolidation of school districts) is going to be imposed, what are the benefits, what are the downsides and so forth...”
A number of school districts in Texas are consolidated, included Hays Consolidated and Aransas County Consolidated, he noted.
Trustee Tom Beasley said, “It seems like we ought to look at this from various angles, not the least of which is what is our assessment of what the state might do to us at some point if the state mandates (school district) consolidation.”
He said he first started to consider the prospects of school district consolidation seriously while driving between Alice and Rockport and passing tiny school districts within 15 miles of each other. “Everyone had a bus fleet, everyone had a central office, everyone had a gymnasium and football field, and I’m thinking — these are all 15 miles apart, how long is the state going to allow this sort of configuration to keep going,” he recalled. “The taxpayers’ pockets can only go so far so many times. And at some point, if the economy shrinks anymore, I’m concerned that all of our local folks in Bee County will wind up paying for things we cannot afford, and the state is going to, I believe, turn around and say, ‘OK, folks, here’s what you need to do to maximize your efficiency monetarily in your school districts,’ which could mean consolidating the smaller school districts into one larger school district.
There are plenty of smaller school districts in the area that could become targets for consolidation, he added.
School districts in Karnes City and Kenedy in Karnes County are located within 10 miles of each other, as are districts in George West and Three Rivers in Live Oak County, and Woodsboro and Refugio in Refugio County.
“It’s been that way in Texas forever, but I just can’t imagine the state is going to continue to allow us to keep doing that,” Beasley said. “Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know. But if we don’t get ahead of the curve, or think about it — I’ll say this: if we think consolidation is going to be state mandated, I’d much rather see us come up with a plan to do it the way we want to do it rather than someone from the state telling us how we have to do it.”
Beasley suggested that any serious discussion on the issue include a collaborative effort on the part of the public, similar to the committee set up by BISD when it decided to consolidate and close some of its own campuses.
Naturally, any serious discussion of consolidating the school districts in Bee County would include representatives from Pettus, Skidmore-Tynan and Pawnee school districts, Cardenas assured members of the audience.
At what point that discussion occurs he was unsure.
“I guess my question would be at what point do we start talking to other districts, because there’s already a perception out there that BISD is trying to take over the county’s school (districts), which is strictly false. We have no intention of doing that,” he said. “All we’re saying is that we’d like to look at the whole situation in case at some point the state says you will consolidate and they tell us here is what you’re going to do. And I agree with Tom that we need to start thinking ahead.”
Beasley said he and his colleagues on the BISD board should first determine if they want to look into the matter further.
If the board agrees to research the issue further, and the research suggested school district consolidation would be a wise move, then other school district representatives can be invited to discuss the matter. Beasley said he has yet to determine if school district consolidation is a wise move because he has yet to see the data proving that merging schools would save money without adversely affecting education.
BISD trustees agreed Monday that they wanted Hardwick to research the issue more and report back to them.
I know there is panic about having to send children to "other" schools, but nothing has been said about that. Logically, it would be best to look at consolidating the overhead functions (superintendent, head of transportation, etc)...you know...the people who sit in their white castles and rarely see the actual students. I don't foresee students being forced to go to another town for school, but they may be given more options.
One of the things I've notices about larger school districts is that there is more flexibility. They can take a school and make it focused on critical (future shortage)areas like math and science. Children would have to work to compete to get into these schools. If we want to make Beeville competitive in drawing more business, it would be wise to make our schools more attractive to potential investors and their workers.
When people look at moving into an area, they usually look at the schools available (and their performance).
One more thing a little off the topic. There are all sorts of things put into place for school/teacher accountability. Where is the accountability for the students and parents? It takes more than "just showing up" to be successful; why is that the preferred standard? Really, I know it's about money. Most of the teachers I've met here are fantastic; they obviously love their jobs (and students). If a student is willing to learn from these teachers, he/she will. Children will usually meet expectations set by their parents. If the parents stress education and hard work, the kids will usually meet those expectations.