MAYFIELD - The boards of education for the Mayfield and Northville central school districts are looking at options for consolidating services or possibly merging the two districts.
The boards will meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the upper library at Mayfield High School.
The boards and the superintendents for the districts met last week for a similar meeting in Northville for discussions and a tour of the school buildings.
"Everything is on the table for consolidation discussion," said Paul G. Williamsen, superintendent for the Mayfield Central School District. "Transportation, sports activities, elective classes, administrative services, professional development, insurance ... everything and anything is open for this brainstorming session. This is just getting started."
"We feel very strongly the importance of exploring all avenues to see what we can do to benefit, most importantly, our students, as well as our taxpayers," said Kathy Dougherty, superintendent of the Northville Central School District. "The financial incentives being offered at the state level for schools that are willing to merge are just too good not to consider. If our boards decide to move forward with a merger of the two school districts, the outcomes could be positive for everyone."
Williamsen said the districts are inviting Mark Vivacqua, interim superintendent for Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services, to the meeting to learn about opportunities for shared services.
He said the districts could decide "to conduct a study for merging the districts."
Williamsen explained some of the reasons the joint discussions came about.
"We didn't receive $1.2 million in state aid this year and the whole Hudson River [Black River Regulatory District] situation effecting both our districts is putting a strain on us," he said.
Mayfield is owed about $364,000 in unpaid taxes for the 2009-10 school year from the Hudson River-Black River Regulatory District and Northville is owed $326,000 for 2009-10. Both districts have begun a lawsuit against the regulating district to recover the lost revenue.
"As difficult as this past year has been financially for school districts across New York state, we don't see things improving any time soon," Williamsen said. "Our districts' needs are only going to continue to increase. This is just one option we're exploring to help meet that growing need."
Currently, the districts share a track and field team.
"It's working out very well," said Dougherty. "The team was more competitive and we saved money."
Williamsen and Dougherty are considering piloting additional shared services during the upcoming school year.
"Our districts are exploring a merger or sharing services as an opportunity to maintain our small communities and improve our programs by combining resources and taking advantage of financial incentives from the state," said Williamsen. "This series of meetings is helping our board members learn about the process while also getting to know the people in the neighboring community."