Mahoney renews call for consolidating Fayette County school districts
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
State Rep. Tim Mahoney opens a meeting at the South Union Fire Department where he discussed school district consolidation with constituents and concerned citizens, and compared Fayette County demographics to other counties that had successfully consolidated their school districts into countywide school systems.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Carl Butchko, an auto body teacher at the Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center, laments that there are more jobs in the community than there are technically-oriented students who graduate from local high schools, and expressed his concern about teachers’ jobs in the event of consolidation.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Uniontown School Board member Bill Gerke talks about the pros of consolidating Fayette County Schools at a town hall meeting on Thursday night at the South Union Fire Department, where state representative Tim Mahoney answered questions about the idea and presented statistics from other school districts that had consolidated.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
State Representative Tim Mahoney, far right, speaks to a crowd at the South Union Fire Department about school district consolidation, an idea he has researched and suggests would save Fayette County many tens of millions of dollars per year.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Dr. Joyce Royster speaks at a meeting by state Rep. Tim Mahoney to gauge public sentiments on county school district consolidation. Royster says that schools have already succesfully consolidated within her lifetime, so future consolidation should work.
State Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union, on Thursday renewed his call for the consolidation of Fayette County’s six school districts.
Mahoney presented financial and demographic information from three out-of-state county-wide school districts showing those districts could educate Fayette County’s 17,044 students for many millions less than what the county districts spend.
He initially proposed having one superintendent and one school board run all six districts in 2011.
The $20 million he estimated taxpayers would save by consolidating is a conservative estimate, he said Thursday.
“A lot more than $20 million would be saved. Twenty million was conservative,” Mahoney said, responding to a question from Dr. Joyce Royster, a former principal in the Uniontown Area School District.
She was among 40 people who attended a meeting Mahoney held in the South Union Township fire hall.
Mahoney told another resident that the school boards of the six districts would have to approve the consolidation plan. He said he would be glad to meet with board members and administrators to discuss the idea.
“I just can’t see why we cannot just sit down…to find a solution to benefit kids and taxpayers,” Mahoney said.
He said he has introduced a bill that would mandate school district consolidation in every county, but it hasn’t gained support.
The difficulty Fayette County schools have in reaching academic goals is due to a lack of funding and not because of teachers or administrators, he said.
Of the three out-of-state districts that Mahoney profiled, the Washington County, Maryland, School District is the most similar to Fayette County, he said.
The combined budgets of Fayette County’s districts is $253,614,747 for the 2015-16 school year. Average class sizes range from 17-25 students and the districts own 41 buildings. The average teacher’s salary is $61,000 and there are 2,228 employees. Enrollment is 17,044 and the cost to educate each students is $14,880.
Fayette County’s population is 134,086 and the median income is $39,115.
In the Washington County, Maryland, district, the 2015-16 budget is $259,322,774. Average class size is 20-25 students and the district has 46 buildings. Average teacher salaries range from $35,725 to $79,731 and there are 3,100 employees. Enrollment is 22,403 and cost to educate each students is $11,575.
The county’s population is 149,573 and the median income is $55,609.
Based on those figures, the Maryland district could educate Fayette County’s students with a $197,284,300 budget, which is $56,330,447 less than what the county districts spend.
“It’s $56 million a year if you use that model,” Mahoney said.
Uniontown Area School Board member Bill Gerke said $3 million would be saved if 36 administrative jobs in the six districts were consolidated to 10 in a county-wide district.
He said building and grounds maintenance services could be combined to save money, and bulk purchasing would save money in a consolidated district.
Gerke said he does not believe the districts would lose their identities in a consolidation.
He said all county school boards should discuss consolidation, and board members must be willing to give up their titles for a better education system.
Carl Butchko, an auto collision repair instructor at Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center for 30 years, said he opposes consolidation because teachers and other employees would lose jobs and schools would lose their identities.
Responding to a question from Butchko, Mahoney said two vo-tech schools would probably be needed in county-wide district due to the number of students enrolled in those programs now.
“We have to do some type of consolidation in the state,” said Mike Diehl, a 30-year member of the Turkeyfoot Area School Board in Somerset County.
He said consolidation would result in some job losses, but it would improve education.
Joe Maher, a business owner from Bullskin Township, said Fayette County had many school districts in the past and they have been consolidated into the six current districts over the years.
“If those schools remained independent, where would they be today?” Maher asked.
He said teachers, not school buildings, educate students and change is inevitable.
Having one administration deciding on how to educate students and prepare them for jobs is a good idea, he said.
“I think this will work and it will work very well,” Maher said.
Gloria Yushak, a former guidance counselor in the Belle Vernon Area School District who was elected to the school board there, said she has always believed a county-wide district would save money and allow employees to transfer from buildings they don’t like working in.
“I totally support the idea of a county-wide system. One of the big things a county-wide system would give us is diversity,” said Royster.
She said cost savings in bus transportation and staff development in a consolidated district are indisputable.
Al Packan, a retired teacher who worked in several area districts, said a county-wide district would spend less tax dollars on operating costs and improve the quality of education.
He said families that move within the county would have no problems changing schools in a county-wide system.