Agenda - 03-11-1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The very nature of the merger issue makes it controversial . For this reason, interest in merger fluctuates over a long period of time. Several merger studies are often conducted by the state agency and private organizations over a period of many years before merger occurs. This process frequently polarizes the citizenry; there is often an assumption that merger cannot- be y mutually beneficial . Merger is an educational issue but-also a political and social one. The business community will evaluate merger in light of business interests; some school board members will lose their positions; merger will reduce the number of superintendents and frequently results in a total reorganization of the central office staffs; teachers are fearful that they will be transferred to distant schools; merger sometimes expedites the closing of schools and a consequent loss or change of jobs. Despite the controversy which surrounds merger, ultimately there appears to be satisfaction where merger has occurred. There has been little interest in reestablishing any of the 32 city administrative units which have merged since 1960. Likewise, the last serious, but unsuccessful, effort to create a new special chartered school district was in 1970. Through the years, the State Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Educa- tion have maintained that the question of merger is a local question and outside their purview. Upon request, the department has conducted merger feasibility studies, and counseled with 'admin- istrators and boards of education regarding merger.. The department has maintained a policy, however, that merger studies will. be conducted only when requested by all boards of education which are involved. Z i i 1 -