The merger has been voted down in Hamilton, 720 to 249.
There will be no merger. Now we have to work on actual solutions for the long-run problems that the merger wasn't a solution for.
Showing posts with label consolidation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consolidation. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Pro-Merger Guest Post: Coby Merkle
Here's a pro-merger letter in response to the ABCs of HCS; he's actually responding, letter by letter, to the newspaper ad which I don't have online, so beside each letter I've inserted a link to the corresponding letter in the slightly older Google-site version; click on the "*". Coby's really quite eloquent, and I feel sad -- but on the other hand, I hope and expect that he'll do very well in the end, even though I think that his schoolmates will be long-run worse off if the proposed merger goes through. I look at "A" and think "(1) Yes, of course we do. (2) No, not really, but smaller than it would be if distance weren't an issue. (3) Please click through and read the research summary we were citing. (There were others, but we had to cut for length.)" I look at "B" and think "Extremely small? We live in different worlds, which happen to both be in upstate NY." And I go through the rest of the alphabet, and think: There's no rebuttal here, and I hope and expect that Coby will do well in the end, but I feel sad. It's all about people, doing their best. Anyway, here are Coby's responses:
What was written in the Mid-York Weekly on December 5th was absolutely preposterous. Let me tear it apart for you..... (All letters correlate and are rebuttals to the article listed in the newspaper)
* A- Academic Achievement- Do you have any idea how small our merged school would be? Compared to other schools in this state, and even country, it would be microscopic. How would the academics lead to worse outcomes in a school that is still small in size and number, with the same amount of staffing available?
* B- Buses- Of course Morrisville-Eaton's buses log twice the mileage, our district is fairly bigger and not centered in one town! The extra prices of fuel had been counted into the study as miscellaneous expenditures. Plus, a 75 minute bus run is extremely small. Have you ever checked into VVS's bus times now that the three school districts are merged? (And VVS is doing fine monetarily after the merge)
* C- Comparisons- Our communities are actually very similar, with a few exceptions to the numerical figures you listed which are unimportant to our students education. How would merging two schools of two different assessment levels lead to more problems?
* D- Debt- Hamilton will acquire more debt as a school,however the study calls for a decrease in Hamilton’s taxes. Also, our nation was created by the nation assuming state debts, why can't one school assume two?
* E- Environment- I believe the importance of the education of our students is superior to a small environmental impact that could be reduced in the future due to better technology.
* F- Finances- Financially, 40,000 dollars is quite a savings for a school of our caliber, and we would also be acquiring the money for merging from the state over a fifteen year period.
* G- Go Green!- How exactly would a merger damage a environmentally green aspect on a village? The village of Hamilton, its farmers’ market, new utilities, and village committees would still exist and be unaffected by a school merger. The village of Hamilton can still keep it's green color and spirit, but its school would be a different color, big deal.
* H- Hamilton- Although there are uncertainties to the study,a significant change like school locations as opposed to what the study encourages is very doubtful. Also, Colgate has been feeding you for years now. Anything uncertainties can happen at any time. If we don't merge, and Colgate decides to pull funding from HCS, your school might realize the troubles schools have all over.
* I- Incentive Aid- If suddenly the state decides to renege on its promises and take money back from our incentive aid because of financial crisis, don't you think the two separate schools would be in trouble due to this financial crisis anyways?
* J- Jurisdiction and Local Control- Hamilton is far from losing a say in the schooling of their students; half of them are Hamilton students anyways! Have you ever heard of compromise? We can raise tax rate lightly to preserve programs- win win?
* K- K-12- Synergy can be created, unlike energy. Why couldn't there be a program to increase synergy between the high school, middle school, and elementary schools upon a merger situation?
* L- Life, Quality of- There would still be many sporting events, concerts, shows, and art events at the present HCS school in a merger situation because it would be our high school as portrayed in the study. Also, with only a free hour between sports practice and school ending, there isn't much to do. Walking home or eating would already consume nearly all of the hour given.
* M- Merger- Get used to change, there will be a lot in both of our futures regardless of a merger. If something goes wrong you make it right, a procedure we have taught to children for centuries. If we don't get along, or if there is issues in our school, we will find ways to make them better and resolve them.
* N- Neighbors- If we are good neighbors why can't we be good as a merged school? We already have many sports agreements, and shared service agreements that pretty simply aren't cutting the monetary funds that we are in search for.
* O- Organizing Loca Support for HCS- This isn't even a valid reason to vote no against the merger. It's an advertisement for your social networking page, way to be creative.
* P- Population- If we merge, can't we still be seen as a school with a fine reputation so we can also increase in population. Morrisville also has some fine, if not as large as Hamilton’s, businesses and workplaces in our environment and community.
* Q- Questions- Stating where questions about this situation can be answered is another fine reason to say no; you're gaining many gold stars in creativity.
* R-Real Estate Values- Where are you seeing such disparities between our two districts to the point where real estate values would decrease because our district would be less desirable? Mind me, but I believe the fine kids of Hamilton combined with the fine kids of Morrisville would be more desirable than one or the other.
* S- SES Study Team- These aspects have already been commented on which are other 'letters' in your write up.
* T- Taxes- Like I've already interpreted, it would be fairly rough and very unlikely to not follow the study which took 7 long, hard working meetings to piece together. In this case, Hamilton's tax rate would probably decrease to Morrisville's. What would be the point of raising one to match the other if we are gaining money and saving money anyways?
* U- Uncertainties- Of course there is uncertainty, there is uncertainty in anything. Also, as a member of the study, I was pro high school in Hamilton contradicting the conflict in the study meetings. I also wasn’t the only Morrisvillian contradicting this act. The school board (with combined members) would probably not make dramatic changes due to people like you being on the board as well.
* V- Vote- Another great reason to vote no! The date of the vote!
* W- Walking and Biking to School- Only the middle school, as portrayed in the study, would move to Morrisville, and then the students that continued to high school in Hamilton could again walk to combat your childhood obesity issue. It seems you’re getting very picky and delving very deep to find issues to support your opinion.
* XYZ- ‘X’ Merger, It’s up to You, Zero Gain from Merger- X and Y are another example of your creativity to include valid reasons. And with ‘Z’, as a student I believe that a lot would be gained by a merger between the two districts financially (see F), educationally (see A), and finally socially/culturally (see C,G,H,K,L,N,P) It saddens me that one group can be so close-minded and centered on their action that they would jeopardize the education, sporting opportunities, extracurricular activities, and the interactions between students of two districts. Hamilton and Morrisville already have shared services, sports teams, and link other activities together. Separately, neither have the population to support all of these programs and activities. If the proposed merger is declined, Morrisville-Eaton will be in search of another school for possible consolidation. Therefore, if M-E decides to merge with another school, Hamilton will lose it’s ME/H combined football teams, field hockey teams, wrestling teams, and soccer teams, as well as all other joint services. Would Hamilton benefit in the end by voting ‘NO’ on December 10th? I guess it’s for each individual to decide, but with all of these aspects in mind, I’d assume not.
To whom it may concern, Coby Merkle, Class of 2015 of Morrisville Eaton Central School District, and student member of the ME/Hamilton merger study. Thank you.
What was written in the Mid-York Weekly on December 5th was absolutely preposterous. Let me tear it apart for you..... (All letters correlate and are rebuttals to the article listed in the newspaper)
* A- Academic Achievement- Do you have any idea how small our merged school would be? Compared to other schools in this state, and even country, it would be microscopic. How would the academics lead to worse outcomes in a school that is still small in size and number, with the same amount of staffing available?
* B- Buses- Of course Morrisville-Eaton's buses log twice the mileage, our district is fairly bigger and not centered in one town! The extra prices of fuel had been counted into the study as miscellaneous expenditures. Plus, a 75 minute bus run is extremely small. Have you ever checked into VVS's bus times now that the three school districts are merged? (And VVS is doing fine monetarily after the merge)
* C- Comparisons- Our communities are actually very similar, with a few exceptions to the numerical figures you listed which are unimportant to our students education. How would merging two schools of two different assessment levels lead to more problems?
* D- Debt- Hamilton will acquire more debt as a school,however the study calls for a decrease in Hamilton’s taxes. Also, our nation was created by the nation assuming state debts, why can't one school assume two?
* E- Environment- I believe the importance of the education of our students is superior to a small environmental impact that could be reduced in the future due to better technology.
* F- Finances- Financially, 40,000 dollars is quite a savings for a school of our caliber, and we would also be acquiring the money for merging from the state over a fifteen year period.
* G- Go Green!- How exactly would a merger damage a environmentally green aspect on a village? The village of Hamilton, its farmers’ market, new utilities, and village committees would still exist and be unaffected by a school merger. The village of Hamilton can still keep it's green color and spirit, but its school would be a different color, big deal.
* H- Hamilton- Although there are uncertainties to the study,a significant change like school locations as opposed to what the study encourages is very doubtful. Also, Colgate has been feeding you for years now. Anything uncertainties can happen at any time. If we don't merge, and Colgate decides to pull funding from HCS, your school might realize the troubles schools have all over.
* I- Incentive Aid- If suddenly the state decides to renege on its promises and take money back from our incentive aid because of financial crisis, don't you think the two separate schools would be in trouble due to this financial crisis anyways?
* J- Jurisdiction and Local Control- Hamilton is far from losing a say in the schooling of their students; half of them are Hamilton students anyways! Have you ever heard of compromise? We can raise tax rate lightly to preserve programs- win win?
* K- K-12- Synergy can be created, unlike energy. Why couldn't there be a program to increase synergy between the high school, middle school, and elementary schools upon a merger situation?
* L- Life, Quality of- There would still be many sporting events, concerts, shows, and art events at the present HCS school in a merger situation because it would be our high school as portrayed in the study. Also, with only a free hour between sports practice and school ending, there isn't much to do. Walking home or eating would already consume nearly all of the hour given.
* M- Merger- Get used to change, there will be a lot in both of our futures regardless of a merger. If something goes wrong you make it right, a procedure we have taught to children for centuries. If we don't get along, or if there is issues in our school, we will find ways to make them better and resolve them.
* N- Neighbors- If we are good neighbors why can't we be good as a merged school? We already have many sports agreements, and shared service agreements that pretty simply aren't cutting the monetary funds that we are in search for.
* O- Organizing Loca Support for HCS- This isn't even a valid reason to vote no against the merger. It's an advertisement for your social networking page, way to be creative.
* P- Population- If we merge, can't we still be seen as a school with a fine reputation so we can also increase in population. Morrisville also has some fine, if not as large as Hamilton’s, businesses and workplaces in our environment and community.
* Q- Questions- Stating where questions about this situation can be answered is another fine reason to say no; you're gaining many gold stars in creativity.
* R-Real Estate Values- Where are you seeing such disparities between our two districts to the point where real estate values would decrease because our district would be less desirable? Mind me, but I believe the fine kids of Hamilton combined with the fine kids of Morrisville would be more desirable than one or the other.
* S- SES Study Team- These aspects have already been commented on which are other 'letters' in your write up.
* T- Taxes- Like I've already interpreted, it would be fairly rough and very unlikely to not follow the study which took 7 long, hard working meetings to piece together. In this case, Hamilton's tax rate would probably decrease to Morrisville's. What would be the point of raising one to match the other if we are gaining money and saving money anyways?
* U- Uncertainties- Of course there is uncertainty, there is uncertainty in anything. Also, as a member of the study, I was pro high school in Hamilton contradicting the conflict in the study meetings. I also wasn’t the only Morrisvillian contradicting this act. The school board (with combined members) would probably not make dramatic changes due to people like you being on the board as well.
* V- Vote- Another great reason to vote no! The date of the vote!
* W- Walking and Biking to School- Only the middle school, as portrayed in the study, would move to Morrisville, and then the students that continued to high school in Hamilton could again walk to combat your childhood obesity issue. It seems you’re getting very picky and delving very deep to find issues to support your opinion.
* XYZ- ‘X’ Merger, It’s up to You, Zero Gain from Merger- X and Y are another example of your creativity to include valid reasons. And with ‘Z’, as a student I believe that a lot would be gained by a merger between the two districts financially (see F), educationally (see A), and finally socially/culturally (see C,G,H,K,L,N,P) It saddens me that one group can be so close-minded and centered on their action that they would jeopardize the education, sporting opportunities, extracurricular activities, and the interactions between students of two districts. Hamilton and Morrisville already have shared services, sports teams, and link other activities together. Separately, neither have the population to support all of these programs and activities. If the proposed merger is declined, Morrisville-Eaton will be in search of another school for possible consolidation. Therefore, if M-E decides to merge with another school, Hamilton will lose it’s ME/H combined football teams, field hockey teams, wrestling teams, and soccer teams, as well as all other joint services. Would Hamilton benefit in the end by voting ‘NO’ on December 10th? I guess it’s for each individual to decide, but with all of these aspects in mind, I’d assume not.
To whom it may concern, Coby Merkle, Class of 2015 of Morrisville Eaton Central School District, and student member of the ME/Hamilton merger study. Thank you.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Enrollment Projections and Merger Alternatives
Downloaded today, December 8th, from the Cornell Program on Applied Demographics, is our problem (click for enlarged view):
As you can see, our school has been shrinking...but Cornell thinks that our shrinkage has pretty much reached an end, for the next several years. I don't know that they're including our currently most-since-1997 elementary enrollment or the Colgate-funded expansion of the nursery school, but I look at that graph and I think: that's a problem, yes. (At least it's a problem for the kind of school we now have, which I expect to be drastically modified in the next decade or two but not right now.) It's a problem. Are we desperate? No. Will we become desperate? We don't know...the graph doesn't go that far into the future, but we're sort-of-okay for a while. Do we have time to work on alternatives which (unlike the currently proposed merger) would actually save money? Yes.
And of course some of those alternatives would be mergers, possibly with Morrisville-Eaton under different circumstances (as I've proposed before) or possibly not -- or possibly with a couple of other schools at once, as Stanley Roe was reminding us in his letter to the Mid-York Weekly this week. None of those merger proposals would make me bubble over with happiness, but if they saved money, if they saved money in the long run, then I would almost certainly stop fussing with this blog.
same-day update: Carolyn looks more carefully and is confident that the recent expansion data is not included, so the graph should probably be given an uptick. Separately, Ken points out that if you go to the Cornell source and check the Madison and Morrisville-Eaton districts, you find that Madison's predicted to have more stable enrollment than M-E. Indeed, we should keep the whole region in mind for all the plans we consider, and I wasn't. Thanks!
And of course some of those alternatives would be mergers, possibly with Morrisville-Eaton under different circumstances (as I've proposed before) or possibly not -- or possibly with a couple of other schools at once, as Stanley Roe was reminding us in his letter to the Mid-York Weekly this week. None of those merger proposals would make me bubble over with happiness, but if they saved money, if they saved money in the long run, then I would almost certainly stop fussing with this blog.
same-day update: Carolyn looks more carefully and is confident that the recent expansion data is not included, so the graph should probably be given an uptick. Separately, Ken points out that if you go to the Cornell source and check the Madison and Morrisville-Eaton districts, you find that Madison's predicted to have more stable enrollment than M-E. Indeed, we should keep the whole region in mind for all the plans we consider, and I wasn't. Thanks!
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Gap Elimination Adjustment
In yesterday's post I noted parts of Wanda Berry's note on NextDoor; I should also have mentioned a very important point she brings up in that note:
Gap Elimination Adjustment: An Explanation from Cap Region BOCES on Vimeo.
Wanda and many others are hoping that if we all get together and say "No!" then the state legislators will say "Okay" and the schools won't be short of money any more. I sympathize very strongly, but I think we need to consider the context. What are we actually asking the state legislators to do? They want to please their voters; they already want to restore school funding. If they restore school funding, they must either reduce funding for something else, or else they can raise taxes. (Of course they can probably borrow money now, but that means that at some future time they'll be either reducing funding for something else, or raising taxes. Borrowing money now to fix it later is part of how we got in this mess.) This, of course, brings us to the Report of the State Budget Crisis Task Force (PDF,page 7)
Exactly how high are our taxes, comparatively speaking? That's complicated, because it involves income taxes and sales taxes and property taxes; for Alaska it also involves some weird taxes which don't actually get collected from the individual, they're based on oil movement, but apart from that we can sort of say that NY has the highest tax burden outside Washington DC in the state tax-burden chart. That's a statement that needs lots of qualifiers about what you're including and excluding; some are noted at the bottom of the chart. Some charts will put NY as low as #5 in state tax burden, but we can definitely say that a lot of New York residents and New York businesses notice, now and then, that they could be paying a lot less by moving to another state. And what happens then? Sometimes nothing. Some of us pay, and stay to pay again. For others... Income Migration: What Does It Really Mean For States? - Forbes
Of course some of the migration goes to neighboring states, which do have lower state taxes; Florida has no income tax at all. But as our taxes rise, it becomes increasingly attractive for high-income Manhattan residents to start thinking: how much of this could I do on the Web, or by teleconference? As the New York Times put it a year ago Midlevel Finance Jobs Leave Wall Street as Firms Cut Costs
They might, or they might not. State aid cuts may go away, but they might expand. They might expand a lot. Ask for state aid, hope for state aid, but don't count on it.
(My inclination is to agitate for mandate relief more than increases in aid. NYS education costs twice as much per pupil per year as the national average. We should work on that.)
Whether or not the merger goes through, it is time for us to believe in democracy enough to mobilize a citizens’ effort to get the state legislature to get rid of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which is the real threat, along with our declining school age population.Indeed, while the proposed merger is all about promised state aid; one irony is that it is also all about previous promises of state aid being broken. More concretely:
- as often discussed, we wouldn't be discussing a merger that doesn't actually save money, if there weren't state incentives offering an average 5.3%-of-budget aid for fourteen years, plus permanent (?) reclassification of Hamilton as part of a "high needs district". But also,
- we wouldn't be discussing a merger at all if it weren't for a fiscal squeeze resulting from the "Gap Elimination Adjustment", a formula by which the state has refrained from paying millions that had been promised.
Gap Elimination Adjustment: An Explanation from Cap Region BOCES on Vimeo.
Wanda and many others are hoping that if we all get together and say "No!" then the state legislators will say "Okay" and the schools won't be short of money any more. I sympathize very strongly, but I think we need to consider the context. What are we actually asking the state legislators to do? They want to please their voters; they already want to restore school funding. If they restore school funding, they must either reduce funding for something else, or else they can raise taxes. (Of course they can probably borrow money now, but that means that at some future time they'll be either reducing funding for something else, or raising taxes. Borrowing money now to fix it later is part of how we got in this mess.) This, of course, brings us to the Report of the State Budget Crisis Task Force (PDF,page 7)
The conclusion of the Task Force is unambiguous. The existing trajectory of state spending, taxation, and administrative practices cannot be sustained. The basic problem is not cyclical. It is structural. The time to act is now.From their point of view, the elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment would be a big step -- in the wrong direction. If they remove the GEA, then the painful decisions to be made get worse -- do we cut our already-underfunded pension plans, do we cut our massive health care payments, do we just let the infrastructure rust? Or -- the most obvious answer -- do we raise taxes? Hmmm... raising taxes sounds very good, doesn't it? Or does it?
Exactly how high are our taxes, comparatively speaking? That's complicated, because it involves income taxes and sales taxes and property taxes; for Alaska it also involves some weird taxes which don't actually get collected from the individual, they're based on oil movement, but apart from that we can sort of say that NY has the highest tax burden outside Washington DC in the state tax-burden chart. That's a statement that needs lots of qualifiers about what you're including and excluding; some are noted at the bottom of the chart. Some charts will put NY as low as #5 in state tax burden, but we can definitely say that a lot of New York residents and New York businesses notice, now and then, that they could be paying a lot less by moving to another state. And what happens then? Sometimes nothing. Some of us pay, and stay to pay again. For others... Income Migration: What Does It Really Mean For States? - Forbes
New Yorkers are subject to some of the highest state tax rates in the country, so it is not surprising that commentators have suggested residents will leave the state in droves. And it appears to be true. As reported by the Tax Foundation, between 2000 and 2010, New York lost $45.6 billion in income to other states. That’s far more than any other state. The next closest is California, which lost $29.4 billion over the same period.Or as the NYT put it two years back, At 102%, His Tax Rate Takes the Cake - Common Sense - NYTimes.com
This is a significant amount of income migration. But where did it all go? The answer, not surprisingly, is that much of the income went down south. Florida reportedly had a net gain of $67.3 billion. ...
Mr. Ross said he asked his accountant what he could do. “He said, ‘Fire everyone here and move to Florida,’ ” according to Mr. Ross. He employs 10 people in his New York office.
Of course some of the migration goes to neighboring states, which do have lower state taxes; Florida has no income tax at all. But as our taxes rise, it becomes increasingly attractive for high-income Manhattan residents to start thinking: how much of this could I do on the Web, or by teleconference? As the New York Times put it a year ago Midlevel Finance Jobs Leave Wall Street as Firms Cut Costs
New York’s biggest investment houses are shifting jobs out of the area and expanding in cheaper locales in the United States, threatening the vast middle tier of positions that form the backbone of employment on Wall Street.When you ask the legislator to raise taxes again, you're not just being generous with your own money. You're asking that legislator to bet the state's fiscal stability on your hope that these people, people whose lives revolve around the way they care about money, will decide that they don't really care about money all that much: they'll stay, and pay again.
The shift comes even as banks consider deeper staff cuts here, which could undermine the state and city tax base long term.
“Places like New York or London will remain financial centers, but most of the players are taking a much harder look and asking whether they can move large numbers of jobs...”
They might, or they might not. State aid cuts may go away, but they might expand. They might expand a lot. Ask for state aid, hope for state aid, but don't count on it.
(My inclination is to agitate for mandate relief more than increases in aid. NYS education costs twice as much per pupil per year as the national average. We should work on that.)
Friday, December 6, 2013
Notes on Mid-York and NextDoor
Yesterday (Thursday December 4) the Mid-York Weekly came out, with an advertisement version of the ABCs of HCS. There were also letters to the editor: our continuing commenter Wanda Berry; Alice & Peter Klepeis; Charlie Naef; Susanne Farrington; Stanley Roe. In no particular order:
Charlie, as former mayor, notes (as I have various times on this blog and elsewhere) that it would be possible to vote "yes" now and still vote against the merger later, concluding that "I haven't made up my mind how I would vote next February, but I don't want a determined minority to deny me and others that choice before we see a final proposal." I don't know who is in the minority here, I really just don't know -- but in fact we have seen the final proposal. The final proposal is to merge and have a single Board of Education which will then decide where all the students will go, how much in local taxes they'll ask for from all members of the combined community, and so forth. (We've also seen a "merger plan" which will very likely be followed for the first year or so, which doesn't save money because there doesn't seem to be any way to do that while complying with state mandates.) If there's some detail that Charlie wants to wait for, something which the DoE would provide but only after our December 10th vote, then now is the time to say so. His letter is the first time I've seen anyone suggesting that some such detail might exist, and I have no idea what that detail might be. (I would be happy to put up guest posts from him or from other merger supporters explaining this.)
Alicia & Peter, like Stanley and like Susanne, are concerned with transportation both in terms of cost and in terms of quality of life. Well, yes -- if Morrisville and Hamilton were in walking distance, we'd have merged. :-) And if transportation were cheaper, so that the merger proposal represented an actual opportunity to save on costs and therefore improve district financial stability and long-run student opportunities, then I personally would still be regretfully supporting the merger, despite the quality-of-life and community damage and loss of real estate value and blah blah blah. But transportation is a big cost, in financial and in human terms, much bigger than I thought at the beginning -- so I'm with them on this.
And back we go to Wanda, who says that HCS was "too small a social pool" for her daughters, and I sympathize...but I don't think this would help much. My three adult sons seem to have formed life-long friendships at HCS, friendships based on year after year of shared experiences of classes and athletics and music and theatre, experiences linked by walking (e.g., to after-school music lessons), by bikes, by (short) car rides to bring groups together. A week ago, walking back from PriceChopper, I was offered "a ride and an update" which included the information that my daughter-in-law, graduate of a high school in Athens, will soon be visiting his daughter on the west coast; HCS friendships don't just last, they spread. (They did attend one another's weddings, in Greece and in Hamilton.) Would my kids be better off if we'd been merged with Morrisville? Maybe, but I don't think so. As Carolyn Hsu (I think) was noting at ABCs of HCS (A), research indicates that the merged district "would be more likely to segregate internally into cliques." We get enough of that already.
Wanda also objects to the thought that Hamilton and Morrisville-Eaton voters have made different choices, calling it "exceptionalism". She wants centralization, so that everybody has to make the same choices. Well, sure: people who want to make everybody makes the same choices should generally vote for centralization. I am not that confident that my choices are right for everybody else -- and I'm not that confident that my views will prevail in a more centralized district, where (from the CAC experience) about half the voters would apparently want the high school inside Hamilton and the other half would want it 3.5 miles north of Morrisville and one side has to win and the other side has to lose and in the end it depends on turnout. I don't like win/lose, even when it's me winning and the other guys losing. And I really, really, really don't care that the merged district would include the geographical center of the state. I'm sorry, I just don't care. People who care a lot about that should certainly consider voting for the merger.
On nextdoor.com, Wanda comments on the Ellen Larson letter that also appeared here, saying "Perhaps our main difference is that I am less frightened of democracy." I was a bit distressed; the two-district system that Ellen supports is exactly as democratic as the one-district system she opposes, so this comes off as a piece of gratuitous nastiness. Ellen is probably opposed to motherhood and apple pie, as well. Well, perhaps it's a typo: perhaps Wanda meant to say "Perhaps our main difference is that I am less frightened of centralization." That would be true. Centralization is good and bad, and it's an issue that pervades almost everything we do. It was the center, so to speak, of one of my first blog posts, years ago. My ideal school system might have no administrators on-site because all those functions can be centralized right out of the building...even some teaching functions can be centralized. But most can't, or at least shouldn't be. If we centralize in the sense of this merger, then the new school board will do its democratic best, but it will no longer be possible for different communities to make different choices...and we won't be saving money, either. So I'm agin it, personally....and Wanda's not. (Would it be better to say Professor Wanda Berry and of course Professor Charles Naef, and similarly refer to my co-bloggers Professor Carolyn Hsu and Professor Heather Roller along with Dr. Ellen Larson on the other side? I don't think so, indeed Carolyn is the only one with relevant qualifications, but then my own PhuD is surely more irrelevant than any of theirs; I've never understood people very well. Let it be noted that many of us, with and without academic credentials, are thinking hard, and each of us has a vote. Hooray for democracy! (No, I'm not being sarcastic. May we collectively do the right thing.))
Charlie, as former mayor, notes (as I have various times on this blog and elsewhere) that it would be possible to vote "yes" now and still vote against the merger later, concluding that "I haven't made up my mind how I would vote next February, but I don't want a determined minority to deny me and others that choice before we see a final proposal." I don't know who is in the minority here, I really just don't know -- but in fact we have seen the final proposal. The final proposal is to merge and have a single Board of Education which will then decide where all the students will go, how much in local taxes they'll ask for from all members of the combined community, and so forth. (We've also seen a "merger plan" which will very likely be followed for the first year or so, which doesn't save money because there doesn't seem to be any way to do that while complying with state mandates.) If there's some detail that Charlie wants to wait for, something which the DoE would provide but only after our December 10th vote, then now is the time to say so. His letter is the first time I've seen anyone suggesting that some such detail might exist, and I have no idea what that detail might be. (I would be happy to put up guest posts from him or from other merger supporters explaining this.)
Alicia & Peter, like Stanley and like Susanne, are concerned with transportation both in terms of cost and in terms of quality of life. Well, yes -- if Morrisville and Hamilton were in walking distance, we'd have merged. :-) And if transportation were cheaper, so that the merger proposal represented an actual opportunity to save on costs and therefore improve district financial stability and long-run student opportunities, then I personally would still be regretfully supporting the merger, despite the quality-of-life and community damage and loss of real estate value and blah blah blah. But transportation is a big cost, in financial and in human terms, much bigger than I thought at the beginning -- so I'm with them on this.
And back we go to Wanda, who says that HCS was "too small a social pool" for her daughters, and I sympathize...but I don't think this would help much. My three adult sons seem to have formed life-long friendships at HCS, friendships based on year after year of shared experiences of classes and athletics and music and theatre, experiences linked by walking (e.g., to after-school music lessons), by bikes, by (short) car rides to bring groups together. A week ago, walking back from PriceChopper, I was offered "a ride and an update" which included the information that my daughter-in-law, graduate of a high school in Athens, will soon be visiting his daughter on the west coast; HCS friendships don't just last, they spread. (They did attend one another's weddings, in Greece and in Hamilton.) Would my kids be better off if we'd been merged with Morrisville? Maybe, but I don't think so. As Carolyn Hsu (I think) was noting at ABCs of HCS (A), research indicates that the merged district "would be more likely to segregate internally into cliques." We get enough of that already.
Wanda also objects to the thought that Hamilton and Morrisville-Eaton voters have made different choices, calling it "exceptionalism". She wants centralization, so that everybody has to make the same choices. Well, sure: people who want to make everybody makes the same choices should generally vote for centralization. I am not that confident that my choices are right for everybody else -- and I'm not that confident that my views will prevail in a more centralized district, where (from the CAC experience) about half the voters would apparently want the high school inside Hamilton and the other half would want it 3.5 miles north of Morrisville and one side has to win and the other side has to lose and in the end it depends on turnout. I don't like win/lose, even when it's me winning and the other guys losing. And I really, really, really don't care that the merged district would include the geographical center of the state. I'm sorry, I just don't care. People who care a lot about that should certainly consider voting for the merger.
On nextdoor.com, Wanda comments on the Ellen Larson letter that also appeared here, saying "Perhaps our main difference is that I am less frightened of democracy." I was a bit distressed; the two-district system that Ellen supports is exactly as democratic as the one-district system she opposes, so this comes off as a piece of gratuitous nastiness. Ellen is probably opposed to motherhood and apple pie, as well. Well, perhaps it's a typo: perhaps Wanda meant to say "Perhaps our main difference is that I am less frightened of centralization." That would be true. Centralization is good and bad, and it's an issue that pervades almost everything we do. It was the center, so to speak, of one of my first blog posts, years ago. My ideal school system might have no administrators on-site because all those functions can be centralized right out of the building...even some teaching functions can be centralized. But most can't, or at least shouldn't be. If we centralize in the sense of this merger, then the new school board will do its democratic best, but it will no longer be possible for different communities to make different choices...and we won't be saving money, either. So I'm agin it, personally....and Wanda's not. (Would it be better to say Professor Wanda Berry and of course Professor Charles Naef, and similarly refer to my co-bloggers Professor Carolyn Hsu and Professor Heather Roller along with Dr. Ellen Larson on the other side? I don't think so, indeed Carolyn is the only one with relevant qualifications, but then my own PhuD is surely more irrelevant than any of theirs; I've never understood people very well. Let it be noted that many of us, with and without academic credentials, are thinking hard, and each of us has a vote. Hooray for democracy! (No, I'm not being sarcastic. May we collectively do the right thing.))
Thursday, December 5, 2013
A Note on "Forced Mergers" and Incentive Aid
Apparently some people in Hamilton have been saying that they think we should go ahead with a merger because, if we don't, the state government will eventually force a merger anyway and the terms might be worse. I believe that this prediction of "forced merger" comes from a confusion, one which I shared back when I started thinking about this almost three years ago. I wrote here that
The state has had thousands of school district mergers over the past century, and probably they all had bad effects but they also had economies of scale: it costs less to educate a thousand kids if you put them into one building rather than keep them in fifty one-room schoolhouses. I believed that. Hey, I still believe that. I would bet that nearly (but not quite) all of our thousands of mergers have been net positives.
So it's understandable that the June 3, 2008 Suozzi Commission Report wanted to
But then we had the merger study and I spent my time on the CAC and it turned out that in our particular case, the economy of scale (fewer teachers) is neatly balanced by the diseconomy of scale (more bus runs); the difference between them is less than 1% of the combined-district yearly budget. And if fuel cost trends continue, the diseconomy of scale will come to dominate the economy of scale. From an economy of scale perspective, from a total costs perspective, this particular proposed merger is a loser and (so far as I can tell) none of its supporters dispute that. The "ability to achieve fiscal savings" mentioned in the Suozzi recommendation just plain isn't there. Maybe that's true of most of the remaining un-merged small districts: maybe that's why they haven't merged for all these years. Or maybe not, but it's certainly true of us.
Therefore, increasing fiscal pressure on the state means decreasing pressure to merge. Except of course for any remaining districts which really can save money by merging; it's possible that those tiny Long Island districts that the NYT talked about will someday fall into that category. Not us, unless transportation costs go down. For us, the relevant parts would be the other ways of saving money in Recommendation 6 and elsewhere.
Why, then, are we still considering merger at all? Well, because of the state incentive aid involved. Spread over fourteen years we would get $20 million; that's big, isn't it? If the state pays it, it's almost 3/4 of one year's expected budget. So you can think of it as a 5% budget savings for fourteen years, and then it's gone. (Or gone earlier, if the state hits a sufficient crisis before then, as now seems quite plausible.) And there's also the fact that by merging with Morrisville we would become a "high needs district" and get more aid, until we don't because the state's financial troubles force aid cuts, as they have before.
The state's financial troubles, which are very real and might get much worse without much warning, are not a reason to merge or to expect forced merger. Those troubles are a reason not to put ourselves into a position of depending more and more on state finances to fix the problem of New York's super-expensive education...twice as much as the average state, with no obvious educational benefit coming from the rules that generate that extra cost.
Or so it seems to me.
update: Forgot to mention that Ken Bausch did most of the work for this post. All the mistakes are mine, as always. -- tjm
My Upstate New York village has had a school for quite a while; it may not have a school for much longer. New York has long had a consolidation "incentives" policy, pushing "central schools" like ours (which serves neighboring villages and the rural area around) into mergers into larger, more central, more remote schools. There is an argument that consolidation saves on overall costs...And if consolidation saves on overall costs, and some of these costs are carried by your state taxes, and New York State is increasingly stretched for money, then surely it makes sense that eventually the state will say "merge, or we stop supporting you at all." Right? That's what economies of scale push you into: it's not that you want to lose your local district's independence, it's just that the economics makes this into the least bad of the available options.
The state has had thousands of school district mergers over the past century, and probably they all had bad effects but they also had economies of scale: it costs less to educate a thousand kids if you put them into one building rather than keep them in fifty one-room schoolhouses. I believed that. Hey, I still believe that. I would bet that nearly (but not quite) all of our thousands of mergers have been net positives.
So it's understandable that the June 3, 2008 Suozzi Commission Report wanted to
11. Give the Commissioner of Education discretionary authority to order consolidation of school districts based on reviews triggered by objective standards, including but not limited to the size of the student population and geography, declining enrollment, limited educational programs, ability to achieve fiscal savings, and high tax burden.... the LGEC report estimated that consolidating school districts in New York State with fewer than 900 students would result in annual savings of $158.5 to $189.2 million.At the time, that went nowhere; six months later the New York Times reported on tiny downstate school districts in Making Sense of School Consolidation on Long Island
Members of the State Legislature long ago made this calculus for many of the state’s districts, and every year they refuse to touch bills calling for consolidation. So there is a feeling in these parts that the Suozzi commission’s recommendations will gather dust on a shelf.And it has gathered dust; the currently applicable governor's "Recommendation 6" of the Education Reform Commission Report.pdf does say
Recommendation 6. Promote increased access to educational opportunities by encouraging school district restructuring through consolidation and regional high schools.but it's a lot more cautious, and more open to other ways of saving money. No forced merger is on the table. Still, it seemed that some way, some how, the dragon of Economy Of Scale would end up eating up the fair maiden and any (Emerald or other) Knights trying to stop it would just have to go spin their windmills. Less money, fewer schools. Right? That's what I sadly thought in 2011.
But then we had the merger study and I spent my time on the CAC and it turned out that in our particular case, the economy of scale (fewer teachers) is neatly balanced by the diseconomy of scale (more bus runs); the difference between them is less than 1% of the combined-district yearly budget. And if fuel cost trends continue, the diseconomy of scale will come to dominate the economy of scale. From an economy of scale perspective, from a total costs perspective, this particular proposed merger is a loser and (so far as I can tell) none of its supporters dispute that. The "ability to achieve fiscal savings" mentioned in the Suozzi recommendation just plain isn't there. Maybe that's true of most of the remaining un-merged small districts: maybe that's why they haven't merged for all these years. Or maybe not, but it's certainly true of us.
Therefore, increasing fiscal pressure on the state means decreasing pressure to merge. Except of course for any remaining districts which really can save money by merging; it's possible that those tiny Long Island districts that the NYT talked about will someday fall into that category. Not us, unless transportation costs go down. For us, the relevant parts would be the other ways of saving money in Recommendation 6 and elsewhere.
Why, then, are we still considering merger at all? Well, because of the state incentive aid involved. Spread over fourteen years we would get $20 million; that's big, isn't it? If the state pays it, it's almost 3/4 of one year's expected budget. So you can think of it as a 5% budget savings for fourteen years, and then it's gone. (Or gone earlier, if the state hits a sufficient crisis before then, as now seems quite plausible.) And there's also the fact that by merging with Morrisville we would become a "high needs district" and get more aid, until we don't because the state's financial troubles force aid cuts, as they have before.
The state's financial troubles, which are very real and might get much worse without much warning, are not a reason to merge or to expect forced merger. Those troubles are a reason not to put ourselves into a position of depending more and more on state finances to fix the problem of New York's super-expensive education...twice as much as the average state, with no obvious educational benefit coming from the rules that generate that extra cost.
Or so it seems to me.
update: Forgot to mention that Ken Bausch did most of the work for this post. All the mistakes are mine, as always. -- tjm
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Guest Post on the Merger: Ellen Larson
At the PTO meeting, I offered to put statements about the merger on this blog (pro or con). Here's a statement by Ellen Larson. update: Also published at Radio Free Hamilton.
Get out and Vote
re: Hamilton Central and Morrisville Eaton School District Merger
Tuesday December 10, 2013, 10AM - 8 PM
Hamilton Central Bus Garage (for the Hamilton Community)
ER Andrews Elementary School (for the Morrisville Eaton Coummunity)
To keep it simple, my vote is NO to the merger but the important thing is that both communities get out and make EDUCATED decisions and vote for what is right for you and your community.
Understand what you ARE voting for:
You are voting on whether or not to merge the Morrisville Eaton and Hamilton school districts into one unified district.
That is all you are voting for.
All of the other discussions, benefits, risks, and "road maps" are all just theories.
If both communities vote yes to the merger, there will be another binding vote before this moves on. If both communities vote yes in the binding vote then the next step is to elect a new school board. Part of the binding election would be for the communities to vote on how many members the new school board would include (I believe the options are 5,7, or 9). Election of the new school board would be based simply on what participants get the most votes. There is no way to allocate 1/2 from each community. The estimate is that the new school board would be elected around Feb. 28, 2014 and the students would start in the new merged district September of 2014.
Understand what you are NOT voting for:
You are NOT voting for the plan that was proposed by the SES consultants. That is simply a suggestion. The new school board can do anything.
You are NOT voting to keep elementary schools in their respective communities. That is also a suggestion (and everyone agrees it's a priority right now). Many previously merged districts start with that as a priority but in less than 5 years eventually one or both districts lose their home elementary schools.
You are NOT voting for decreased taxes. The SES consultants did suggest that some of the incentive aid money be put towards decreasing taxes. Again, the new school board gets to decide how to spend that money and there is no guarantee that it will be put towards decreasing taxes. From most of the data I have seen from other districts who have merged in the past, even if there were tax reductions initially, after just a few years taxes were back up and higher than where they started.
So from here on out this is simply my opinion. I ask that you respect that. I am a parent. If I don't fight for what I feel is right or best for my children no one else is going to. I respect that there are many others out there with other opinions. Please respond, comment, discuss, whatever... but I request that we all respect that we have different opinions- not right or wrong just different.
Also, note that money is not mentioned in any of the discussion below. My sincere opinion is that considering this merger a panacea to solve our financial woes is a mistake. I honestly feel that even if we go ahead with this merger, and take this incentive aid money, that in 5-10 years we are going to be right back where we are- trying to creatively solve our financial problems. As a result I am choosing to make my decision and vote about this merger based on what's best for kids, not on the finances. By the way, finances is the only thing the SES merger study looked at... there was nothing in this merger study about outcomes for kids.
What do I see that my kids/district/community have to gain from this merger:
A theoretical increase in opportunities. It appears that the general assumption in education is that more kids means more opportunities. Right now we can't offer class Z because there aren't enough kids who want to take it. If we double the number of students we will now have enough to offer class Z. The same analogy applies to sports. Again, this is theoretical. There is nothing even in the SES proposal that shows any increase in opportunities for the Hamilton school district either academically or extracurricularly. This also assumes that just because there are more kids that more of them are going to want to access class Z.
A theoretical increase in diversity and social opportunities.
What do I see that my kids/district/community have to lose from this merger:
The little school that I love.
You can call this an emotional argument but I'm not sure there's anything wrong with that, especially if it's balanced with the other information. I am very proud of the school that my children attend. I am very invested in the school that my children attend. I spend a lot of time in the school that my children attend. This is a nurturing, personalized, caring environment. When I enter the school the school faculty and staff know who I am, they know which kids belong to me, and I know who they are and if appropriate which kids belong to them. When my child was struggling academically the teacher stopped us in the hall and started the conversation- no email, no phone tag. This is all part of a small school. I will not be able to be a presence in the school in a merged district the way I can be now simply because of geography. That is a loss for my children, for myself, and for the extracurricular programs that I help to support by volunteering my time (boy does that sound conceited but it's true- and not just because of me- if there aren't parent volunteers, a lot of things our school community values cannot happen).
My kids walking to school.
I value my children's ability to walk or bike to school. Because they have been raised in this community, my children walk/bike everywhere. They walk/bike to school- often with a cello or french horn (or both) in tow. If they go to a friends house in the village, they walk/bike (there's no argument, there's no discussion, they just do it). If they go to the public library or a piano lesson or a dance lesson they walk/bike. Often they are walking or biking with a friend. In a world of screens, electronics, and instant gratification I really value this about this community. This also gives them a level of independence and responsibility in a safe setting and provides an age appropriate opportunity for socialization (watching a group of children walk or bike together is a totally different experience than watching a group of children on a bus- often with heads down playing with iPods, phones, or some other form electronic entertainment).
Knowing my kids teachers and them knowing me.
See the above discussion about the little school that I love.
Being able to be a presence in the school.
See the above discussion about the little school that I love.
Opportunities
It is proposed that this merger will increase opportunities including extracurricular activities. I am actually concerned that the kids of Hamilton may lose some extracurricular opportunities. One of the unique things about the Hamilton Central School district is that a large percentage of kids need to participate in many activities otherwise those activities don't happen. This also means that kids that might never have tried out for a play or a team or have thought to join FFA- not only try out but participate. Right now, there are no cuts (plays or music or sports). If the number of kids doubles, the numbers of slots are not going to. I'm all for competition and encouraging kids to work to be their best, but I do think there are settings where this is actually going to limit opportunities in Hamilton, not increase them.
Our sense of community
There are people who have tried to mock this statement, but I feel strongly that there is a lot of truth in this. The school is literally and figuratively in many ways a center of the community. Obviously it's where our children spend a large portion of their time. The sports activities draw in not just the families of the players but the community at large. The school plays and musicals draw in not just the families of the children on stage but the community at large. Several residents of the local nursing home attended the last school musical. It is and has been the meeting place for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts through the years. Joys Dance Studio brought grandparents from around the country to Hamilton Central School to see their children to shine on the stage. I am sure there are many other groups and organizations that consider the school their meeting place and home (I just haven't had a chance to experience them all yet.) It is a meeting place. It is a place to celebrate. It is a place to have a Halloween parade. It is a place to be proud of. It is a place for a community to rally around. I am proud of our school and think we should fight to keep the unique experience and community that we have. I think Hamilton Central School is worth fighting for!
Ellen Larson
Village of Hamilton Resident
Parent of an HCS 4th grader and an HCS 7th grader
Get out and Vote
re: Hamilton Central and Morrisville Eaton School District Merger
Tuesday December 10, 2013, 10AM - 8 PM
Hamilton Central Bus Garage (for the Hamilton Community)
ER Andrews Elementary School (for the Morrisville Eaton Coummunity)
To keep it simple, my vote is NO to the merger but the important thing is that both communities get out and make EDUCATED decisions and vote for what is right for you and your community.
Understand what you ARE voting for:
You are voting on whether or not to merge the Morrisville Eaton and Hamilton school districts into one unified district.
That is all you are voting for.
All of the other discussions, benefits, risks, and "road maps" are all just theories.
If both communities vote yes to the merger, there will be another binding vote before this moves on. If both communities vote yes in the binding vote then the next step is to elect a new school board. Part of the binding election would be for the communities to vote on how many members the new school board would include (I believe the options are 5,7, or 9). Election of the new school board would be based simply on what participants get the most votes. There is no way to allocate 1/2 from each community. The estimate is that the new school board would be elected around Feb. 28, 2014 and the students would start in the new merged district September of 2014.
Understand what you are NOT voting for:
You are NOT voting for the plan that was proposed by the SES consultants. That is simply a suggestion. The new school board can do anything.
You are NOT voting to keep elementary schools in their respective communities. That is also a suggestion (and everyone agrees it's a priority right now). Many previously merged districts start with that as a priority but in less than 5 years eventually one or both districts lose their home elementary schools.
You are NOT voting for decreased taxes. The SES consultants did suggest that some of the incentive aid money be put towards decreasing taxes. Again, the new school board gets to decide how to spend that money and there is no guarantee that it will be put towards decreasing taxes. From most of the data I have seen from other districts who have merged in the past, even if there were tax reductions initially, after just a few years taxes were back up and higher than where they started.
So from here on out this is simply my opinion. I ask that you respect that. I am a parent. If I don't fight for what I feel is right or best for my children no one else is going to. I respect that there are many others out there with other opinions. Please respond, comment, discuss, whatever... but I request that we all respect that we have different opinions- not right or wrong just different.
Also, note that money is not mentioned in any of the discussion below. My sincere opinion is that considering this merger a panacea to solve our financial woes is a mistake. I honestly feel that even if we go ahead with this merger, and take this incentive aid money, that in 5-10 years we are going to be right back where we are- trying to creatively solve our financial problems. As a result I am choosing to make my decision and vote about this merger based on what's best for kids, not on the finances. By the way, finances is the only thing the SES merger study looked at... there was nothing in this merger study about outcomes for kids.
What do I see that my kids/district/community have to gain from this merger:
A theoretical increase in opportunities. It appears that the general assumption in education is that more kids means more opportunities. Right now we can't offer class Z because there aren't enough kids who want to take it. If we double the number of students we will now have enough to offer class Z. The same analogy applies to sports. Again, this is theoretical. There is nothing even in the SES proposal that shows any increase in opportunities for the Hamilton school district either academically or extracurricularly. This also assumes that just because there are more kids that more of them are going to want to access class Z.
A theoretical increase in diversity and social opportunities.
What do I see that my kids/district/community have to lose from this merger:
The little school that I love.
You can call this an emotional argument but I'm not sure there's anything wrong with that, especially if it's balanced with the other information. I am very proud of the school that my children attend. I am very invested in the school that my children attend. I spend a lot of time in the school that my children attend. This is a nurturing, personalized, caring environment. When I enter the school the school faculty and staff know who I am, they know which kids belong to me, and I know who they are and if appropriate which kids belong to them. When my child was struggling academically the teacher stopped us in the hall and started the conversation- no email, no phone tag. This is all part of a small school. I will not be able to be a presence in the school in a merged district the way I can be now simply because of geography. That is a loss for my children, for myself, and for the extracurricular programs that I help to support by volunteering my time (boy does that sound conceited but it's true- and not just because of me- if there aren't parent volunteers, a lot of things our school community values cannot happen).
My kids walking to school.
I value my children's ability to walk or bike to school. Because they have been raised in this community, my children walk/bike everywhere. They walk/bike to school- often with a cello or french horn (or both) in tow. If they go to a friends house in the village, they walk/bike (there's no argument, there's no discussion, they just do it). If they go to the public library or a piano lesson or a dance lesson they walk/bike. Often they are walking or biking with a friend. In a world of screens, electronics, and instant gratification I really value this about this community. This also gives them a level of independence and responsibility in a safe setting and provides an age appropriate opportunity for socialization (watching a group of children walk or bike together is a totally different experience than watching a group of children on a bus- often with heads down playing with iPods, phones, or some other form electronic entertainment).
Knowing my kids teachers and them knowing me.
See the above discussion about the little school that I love.
Being able to be a presence in the school.
See the above discussion about the little school that I love.
Opportunities
It is proposed that this merger will increase opportunities including extracurricular activities. I am actually concerned that the kids of Hamilton may lose some extracurricular opportunities. One of the unique things about the Hamilton Central School district is that a large percentage of kids need to participate in many activities otherwise those activities don't happen. This also means that kids that might never have tried out for a play or a team or have thought to join FFA- not only try out but participate. Right now, there are no cuts (plays or music or sports). If the number of kids doubles, the numbers of slots are not going to. I'm all for competition and encouraging kids to work to be their best, but I do think there are settings where this is actually going to limit opportunities in Hamilton, not increase them.
Our sense of community
There are people who have tried to mock this statement, but I feel strongly that there is a lot of truth in this. The school is literally and figuratively in many ways a center of the community. Obviously it's where our children spend a large portion of their time. The sports activities draw in not just the families of the players but the community at large. The school plays and musicals draw in not just the families of the children on stage but the community at large. Several residents of the local nursing home attended the last school musical. It is and has been the meeting place for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts through the years. Joys Dance Studio brought grandparents from around the country to Hamilton Central School to see their children to shine on the stage. I am sure there are many other groups and organizations that consider the school their meeting place and home (I just haven't had a chance to experience them all yet.) It is a meeting place. It is a place to celebrate. It is a place to have a Halloween parade. It is a place to be proud of. It is a place for a community to rally around. I am proud of our school and think we should fight to keep the unique experience and community that we have. I think Hamilton Central School is worth fighting for!
Ellen Larson
Village of Hamilton Resident
Parent of an HCS 4th grader and an HCS 7th grader
Monday, December 2, 2013
Rathskeller PTO Meeting
Well, the PTO meeting in the Colgate Inn Rathskeller took place this evening; several people presented parts of the ABCs of HCS, and then "student presenters" Maddie Lamel-Brown and Zach Coddington presented their Student Merger Survey Results. Note that a clickable (slightly longer) version of the ABCs is available here. The room seemed pretty full; I don't know if any minds were changed.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Presentation by Diana Bowers, Superintendent of HCS, at Colgate University
Diana Bowers, Superintendent of HCS, gave a talk entitled "On
the Potential Merger Between HCS and Morrisville-Eaton," held at Colgate University
on 11/13. This summary of the talk and Q&A was written by Heather Roller and
edited by Astrid Helfant. If you attended this meeting as well, please
post comments or additions.
Dr. Bowers used her same power point slides as in last week's PTO meeting. Of note was that Dr. Bowers brought up several points of contention from that community meeting, without any prodding from yesterday's Colgate University audience.
The issue of transportation came up mostly in the Q&A.
One person put it this way: we would be transferring our
money from one pot (teachers/staff) to another pot (transportation), and
that is something she does not support -- longer times on buses, more
pollution, etc.
The issue of teacher layoffs also came up. Dr. Bowers indicated that the SES Study Team's suggestions for reducing staff would not be the ones she would follow, if she were superintendent. There was a lot of talk about what she would do if she became the superintendent of the new district. It was pointed out that this was uncertain. Dr. Bowers tried to be reassuring by stating that the current superintendent at MECS shares a similar philosophy when it comes to which teacher positions should be cut and which programs should be expanded once districts are merged. She noted that the three men who conducted the SES study would not be applying for the new superintendent position of the merged school district! As evident from their report, these retired superintendents acted like businessmen, not like educators with the best in mind for our students.
Another issue had to do with the data on the slides, which mainly covered the bleak years of 2006-2010. A good question was raised as to whether we are "riding out a cycle here," and whether things are going to improve (or already have improved, but we just don't have the data yet).
Dr. Bowers mentioned past conversations with Colgate administrators (Joanne Borfitz, David Hale, Jeff Herbst) about how Colgate could help support the school district. One way in which Colgate has been able to support is through the additional $300,000 (on top of its yearly contribution of $200,000), which is being used to pay off debt. This amount was strategic in the sense that once Colgate completes its 3-year commitment to this extra amount, this debt will have been paid off and HCS won't necessarily notice the subsequent reduction in Colgate's support back down to $200,000 per year.
In general, however, Dr. Bowers seemed pessimistic about audience proposals for more local partnerships in lieu of the merger as "we've been doing out-of-the-box thinking for the past 5 years." One such proposal was for HCS to offer fewer than its current 9 AP classes as students could simply take these at Colgate. Dr. Bowers countered this with the fact that the school had changed its schedule a few years back so as to enable high school students to take more Colgate classes. However, she had received feedback from HCS students who said that they prefer to take such advanced classes in house. Astrid Helfant argued in favor of maintaining AP classes at the high school, as the students get an incredible amount of guidance from their teacher due to the daily classes and lab sessions every other day (in the case of AP science classes) as opposed to the 14-week semester at Colgate during which classes meet 2-3 times per week with a once per week lab session for science.
Another audience member noted the "nightmare scenario" of not getting the promised incentive money and having lost control over school: "It's so surprising that you would be doing this on the grounds of state promises," he said, that you acknowledge have been broken in the past. Dr. Bowers' response, in a nutshell, was that she does not want us to blame her later for not at least considering the merger option, despite these reasonable concerns. And if we vote the merger down on Dec. 10th, we should still engage in a conversation about how to deal with HCS's very real financial constraints.
Related to this was the issue of dependence on state aid. Dr. Bowers acknowledged that we would be far more dependent on state aid as a merged district. She thought that HCS debt was "about the same" as Morrisville's; several audience members tried to set the record straight on this, but we didn't come up with the actual numbers (that Morrisville has about 70% more school debt than we do) until she had moved on to other topics.
Dr. Bowers used her same power point slides as in last week's PTO meeting. Of note was that Dr. Bowers brought up several points of contention from that community meeting, without any prodding from yesterday's Colgate University audience.
For
example: Dr. Bowers volunteered that sometimes state incentive money (used to promote mergers) came
with increased GEA (Gap Elimination Adjustment - whereby the state takes back school aid in order to balance the state budget). What this means is that the state might give money with one
hand while taking it away with the other. She provided the example of a recent merger between the Canisteo and Greenwood Central School Districts in Steuben County, New York, in which the state gave incentive money but then required a higher GEA.
Also, Dr. Bowers acknowledged that the location of the high school was the major bone of contention during the Community Advisory Committee meetings between Hamilton and Morrisville. And although she continued to stress that the short timeline for the newly merged board would mean that they would surely stick to the recommended school configurations (the "high school will be here"), Dr. Bowers did say that it might only be kept that way for the first year or so. Several members of the audience hammered this point home -- that it would be up to the new board, yet to be elected, with a possible Morrisville majority. One person said he was doubtful that future boards (a few years down the line) would preserve the vision of the original districts; they might only look for short-term gains, and someone would have to lose out: "If we were the bigger district, this would be a much more optimistic moment." Dr. Bowers then acknowledged that elementary schools in Earlville and Oriskany Falls have closed, despite original plans to keep them open. (For a review of recent merger outcomes in the state, see https://sites.google.com/site/
Also, Dr. Bowers acknowledged that the location of the high school was the major bone of contention during the Community Advisory Committee meetings between Hamilton and Morrisville. And although she continued to stress that the short timeline for the newly merged board would mean that they would surely stick to the recommended school configurations (the "high school will be here"), Dr. Bowers did say that it might only be kept that way for the first year or so. Several members of the audience hammered this point home -- that it would be up to the new board, yet to be elected, with a possible Morrisville majority. One person said he was doubtful that future boards (a few years down the line) would preserve the vision of the original districts; they might only look for short-term gains, and someone would have to lose out: "If we were the bigger district, this would be a much more optimistic moment." Dr. Bowers then acknowledged that elementary schools in Earlville and Oriskany Falls have closed, despite original plans to keep them open. (For a review of recent merger outcomes in the state, see https://sites.google.com/site/
The issue of teacher layoffs also came up. Dr. Bowers indicated that the SES Study Team's suggestions for reducing staff would not be the ones she would follow, if she were superintendent. There was a lot of talk about what she would do if she became the superintendent of the new district. It was pointed out that this was uncertain. Dr. Bowers tried to be reassuring by stating that the current superintendent at MECS shares a similar philosophy when it comes to which teacher positions should be cut and which programs should be expanded once districts are merged. She noted that the three men who conducted the SES study would not be applying for the new superintendent position of the merged school district! As evident from their report, these retired superintendents acted like businessmen, not like educators with the best in mind for our students.
Another issue had to do with the data on the slides, which mainly covered the bleak years of 2006-2010. A good question was raised as to whether we are "riding out a cycle here," and whether things are going to improve (or already have improved, but we just don't have the data yet).
Dr. Bowers mentioned past conversations with Colgate administrators (Joanne Borfitz, David Hale, Jeff Herbst) about how Colgate could help support the school district. One way in which Colgate has been able to support is through the additional $300,000 (on top of its yearly contribution of $200,000), which is being used to pay off debt. This amount was strategic in the sense that once Colgate completes its 3-year commitment to this extra amount, this debt will have been paid off and HCS won't necessarily notice the subsequent reduction in Colgate's support back down to $200,000 per year.
In general, however, Dr. Bowers seemed pessimistic about audience proposals for more local partnerships in lieu of the merger as "we've been doing out-of-the-box thinking for the past 5 years." One such proposal was for HCS to offer fewer than its current 9 AP classes as students could simply take these at Colgate. Dr. Bowers countered this with the fact that the school had changed its schedule a few years back so as to enable high school students to take more Colgate classes. However, she had received feedback from HCS students who said that they prefer to take such advanced classes in house. Astrid Helfant argued in favor of maintaining AP classes at the high school, as the students get an incredible amount of guidance from their teacher due to the daily classes and lab sessions every other day (in the case of AP science classes) as opposed to the 14-week semester at Colgate during which classes meet 2-3 times per week with a once per week lab session for science.
Another audience member noted the "nightmare scenario" of not getting the promised incentive money and having lost control over school: "It's so surprising that you would be doing this on the grounds of state promises," he said, that you acknowledge have been broken in the past. Dr. Bowers' response, in a nutshell, was that she does not want us to blame her later for not at least considering the merger option, despite these reasonable concerns. And if we vote the merger down on Dec. 10th, we should still engage in a conversation about how to deal with HCS's very real financial constraints.
Related to this was the issue of dependence on state aid. Dr. Bowers acknowledged that we would be far more dependent on state aid as a merged district. She thought that HCS debt was "about the same" as Morrisville's; several audience members tried to set the record straight on this, but we didn't come up with the actual numbers (that Morrisville has about 70% more school debt than we do) until she had moved on to other topics.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
More (Most) Students Against the Merger
In a more representative sample than that reported in October's Students Against the Merger, we have an actual poll of
HCS Students Weigh in on Merger and Say 'No'
A poll of 234 students in sixth through 12th grades taken by the Student Council last week found that:
- 76.1 percent of all students oppose the proposed merger
- 14.5 percent are in favor of it
- 9.4 percent are undecided.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Comparing HCS and M-E Academic Performance
November 2, 2013
According to research, mergers work best when the two school districts are very similar (and geographically very close together). Mergers between dissimilar districts lead to tensions and conflict. Although Hamilton and Morrisville-Eaton are good neighbors and similar in some ways, we are also quite different in others. For example property values and voting records. Hamilton's property values are over 40% higher than Morrisville-Eaton's. Our response to cuts in state spending has also been different: Hamilton has voted to raise our tax rate to retain programs, while Morrisville has not.
In terms of academics, Hamilton consistently outscores Morrisville-Eaton. First, the data, and then a discussion of what we should do about it:
HCS has also outscored on the SAT:
Data: HSC School Board report average SAT scores in 2013.)
One reaction to this information is to conclude that HCS should merge with M-E because this will help M-E students perform as well as HCS students. I have thought a lot about this, and I have concluded that there are some problems with this view.
First, it is condescending and snooty, assuming that wonderful Hamiltonians would be the savior for those "poor" M-E kids.
Second, what evidence do we have that a merger would improve academic outcomes for M-E? In order to fix a problem, you need to know that source of that problem and have good reasons to believe that the solution you choose addresses that source.
According to Diana Bowers, the gap in academic outcomes is due to assessments and reforms conducted at HCS. She says that if you look at the test scores from 10 years ago, HCS was not doing this well. But they ran an assessment to figure out what the problems were, and changed their teaching practices accordingly. M-E hasn't done that, but they plan to do so soon. My impression of Diana's comments is that she expects them to improve just like HCS did, without a merger.
We also know the following:
According to research, mergers work best when the two school districts are very similar (and geographically very close together). Mergers between dissimilar districts lead to tensions and conflict. Although Hamilton and Morrisville-Eaton are good neighbors and similar in some ways, we are also quite different in others. For example property values and voting records. Hamilton's property values are over 40% higher than Morrisville-Eaton's. Our response to cuts in state spending has also been different: Hamilton has voted to raise our tax rate to retain programs, while Morrisville has not.
In terms of academics, Hamilton consistently outscores Morrisville-Eaton. First, the data, and then a discussion of what we should do about it:
NY State Assessment Test Results, ELA/Math 2013
ELA = English Language Arts
|
Level 1: Students performing at this level are well below
proficient in standards for their grade.
|
Level 2: Students performing at this level are below
proficient in standards for their grade.
|
Level 3: Students performing at this level are proficient
in standards for their grade.
|
Level 4: Students performing at this level excel above the
standards for their grade.
|
Level 3+4: Students who are performing at or above the
standards for their grade
|
||
Morrisville-Eaton
|
|||||||
Group
|
#Tested
|
%Level 1
|
%Level 2
|
%Level 3
|
%Level 4
|
Mean Scale Score
|
% Passed=L3+L4
|
Grade 3 ELA
|
50
|
52
|
40
|
8
|
0
|
276
|
8
|
Grade 3 Math
|
51
|
56.9
|
25.5
|
15.7
|
2
|
274
|
17.7
|
Grade 4 ELA
|
60
|
36.7
|
45
|
16.7
|
1.7
|
290
|
18.4
|
Grade 4 Math
|
60
|
40
|
40
|
16.7
|
3.3
|
287
|
20
|
Grade 5 ELA
|
51
|
45.1
|
33.3
|
13.7
|
7.8
|
290
|
21.5
|
Grade 5 Math
|
51
|
54.9
|
27.5
|
17.6
|
0
|
287
|
17.6
|
Grade 6 ELA
|
54
|
29.6
|
48.1
|
11.1
|
11.1
|
296
|
22.2
|
Grade 6 Math
|
56
|
51.8
|
33.9
|
8.9
|
5.4
|
277
|
14.3
|
Grade 7 ELA
|
54
|
29.6
|
46.3
|
16.7
|
7.4
|
299
|
24.1
|
Grade 7 Math
|
54
|
44.4
|
38.9
|
16.7
|
0
|
289
|
16.7
|
Grade 8 ELA
|
53
|
34
|
30.2
|
28.3
|
7.5
|
298
|
35.8
|
Grade 8 Math
|
52
|
32.7
|
46.2
|
21.2
|
0
|
296
|
21.2
|
Hamilton Central
School
|
|||||||
Group
|
#Tested
|
%Level 1
|
%Level 2
|
%Level 3
|
%Level 4
|
Mean Scale Score
|
% Passed=L3+L4
|
Grade 3 ELA
|
51
|
27.5
|
39.2
|
27.5
|
5.9
|
309
|
33.4
|
Grade 3 Math
|
51
|
25.5
|
29.4
|
35.3
|
9.8
|
308
|
45.1
|
Grade 4 ELA
|
46
|
23.9
|
41.3
|
28.3
|
6.5
|
302
|
34.8
|
Grade 4 Math
|
46
|
32.6
|
41.3
|
17.4
|
8.7
|
293
|
26.1
|
Grade 5 ELA
|
37
|
35.1
|
40.5
|
13.5
|
10.8
|
300
|
24.3
|
Grade 5 Math
|
37
|
29.7
|
37.8
|
21.6
|
10.8
|
303
|
32.4
|
Grade 6 ELA
|
40
|
15
|
47.5
|
12.5
|
25
|
311
|
37.5
|
Grade 6 Math
|
40
|
25
|
27.5
|
15
|
32.5
|
315
|
47.5
|
Grade 7 ELA
|
31
|
9.7
|
19.4
|
35.5
|
35.5
|
329
|
71
|
Grade 7 Math
|
31
|
16.1
|
29
|
38.7
|
16.1
|
320
|
54.8
|
Grade 8 ELA
|
41
|
26.8
|
26.8
|
24.4
|
22
|
311
|
46.4
|
Grade 8 Math
|
41
|
29.3
|
41.5
|
24.4
|
4.9
|
297
|
29.3
|
Data source: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/ela-math/2013/2013ELAandMathemaitcsDistrictandBuildingAggregatesMedia.pdf
NOTE: in 2013, the NYS
Assessment test was revised to fit the Common Core standards. As a result,
statewide scores dropped significantly compared to previous years. The
statewide average for passing (Level 3=Level 4) was 31%.
HCS has also outscored on the SAT:
School
|
Class of:
|
# of Test Takers
|
Math
|
Writing
|
|
HCS
|
2009
|
34
|
519
|
518
|
520
|
M-E
|
2009
|
27
|
468
|
486
|
457
|
HCS
|
2010
|
31
|
512
|
526
|
520
|
M-E
|
2010
|
35
|
501
|
487
|
462
|
HCS
|
2011
|
44
|
522
|
510
|
502
|
M-E
|
2011
|
35
|
499
|
505
|
497
|
HCS
|
2012
|
41
|
549
|
538
|
530
|
M-E
|
2012
|
40
|
469
|
470
|
442
|
HCS
|
2013
|
31
|
533
|
550
|
541
|
M-E
|
2013
|
35
|
470
|
430
|
450
|
One reaction to this information is to conclude that HCS should merge with M-E because this will help M-E students perform as well as HCS students. I have thought a lot about this, and I have concluded that there are some problems with this view.
First, it is condescending and snooty, assuming that wonderful Hamiltonians would be the savior for those "poor" M-E kids.
Second, what evidence do we have that a merger would improve academic outcomes for M-E? In order to fix a problem, you need to know that source of that problem and have good reasons to believe that the solution you choose addresses that source.
According to Diana Bowers, the gap in academic outcomes is due to assessments and reforms conducted at HCS. She says that if you look at the test scores from 10 years ago, HCS was not doing this well. But they ran an assessment to figure out what the problems were, and changed their teaching practices accordingly. M-E hasn't done that, but they plan to do so soon. My impression of Diana's comments is that she expects them to improve just like HCS did, without a merger.
We also know the following:
- Research shows that disadvantaged and/or disadvantaged students populations perform better in smaller schools than in larger ones (see Leithwood & Jantzi’s 2007 article, Review of Empirical Evidence About School Size Effects.) High performing students do well in either kind of school.
- In a merged school district, students from both M-E and Hamilton would be spending more time on the bus. That will not help their academics.
- Mergers are disruptive, and the transition period would be unsettling. That would also be distracting from academics. (If the merger does pass, I would hope that members of both communities would put in our best effort to make it as smooth as possible regardless of how they voted. But some disruption and distraction is just unavoidable.)
- The merger is not likely to yield more resources for academics. A merged district will have just as many buildings to heat and run, plus more bus runs to fuel. A merged district will have to have single tax rate. I can't imagine that Morrisville can easily raise their rate to match Hamilton's, but if we lower our tax rate to match theirs, that's less money for the school. (If the merger fails, both communities will still need to figure out how to address financial shortfalls for their schools. I hope that everyone would pitch in energetically to help with this, regardless of how they voted.)
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