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Poloncarz pushes district consolidation plan

County Executive Mark Poloncarz says it's time to consider school district mergers as a cost-saving measure.

NORTH COLLINS, N.Y. - Public discussion began Monday on County Executive Mark Poloncarz's ambitious school district merger plan, which proposes serious consideration of cost-cutting consolidation measures.

In the first of three forums, Poloncarz addressed a large crowd at the North Collins Public Library in southern Erie County, outlining the potential cost savings of an idea he unveiled last month and included in his State of the County speech in March.

In his April report, Poloncarz cited North Collins and Eden as two potential school districts that could merge together and save nearly $177,000 in administrative costs. The county executive's plan also found $1.3 million in potential administrative savings from a merger between districts in Cheektowaga and Depew, as well as $437,000 in savings from a merger between Alden and Akron.

The consolidation plan would only merge districts at the administrative level. It does not propose to cut schools, teachers or other aspects of day-to-day education.

"You can have a centralized administration, and still have your schools. That's what we're talking about," Poloncarz told the audience. "We're not talking about closing schools. We're not talking about laying off teachers, or bus drivers, or guidance counselors or janitors."

But Erie County can't force anybody to merge. The individual districts would need to decide independently that they wanted to consolidate and then gain state approval.

For school districts that decided to merge, there's a pool of state money set aside to help boost operating costs by 40 percent for five years.

Still, some educators worry that the added costs of collective bargaining agreements through a merged district, as well as the addition of centralized staff, would overwhelm consolidated districts regardless of state aid.

The County Executive's office is planning two additional forums following Monday's event in North Collins.

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