Cardinal Board Divided On Consolidation Efforts
I'm not ready to throw the towel in. Wendy Anderson(The plan) is still evolving. Nancy Ferguson
Cardinal Schools Board of Education members argued for about half an hour Wednesday about the district’s possible participation in the proposed consolidation of Newbury, Berk-shire and Cardinal school districts.
The discussion on Cardinal’s inclusion was planned since April and did not lead to a vote on the subject. It was not listed on Wednesday’s agenda.
Holding a copy of the timeline, board member Wendy Anderson spoke in favor of Cardinal not participating in the proposed consolidation.
“I’m not ready to throw the towel in,” she said.
Kent State University has offered to donate land at the Geauga campus in Burton Township for a school for grades seven through 12 if two or more districts consolidate. The Ohio School Facilities Commission will pick up half the cost of building the school if the General Assembly passes proposed legislation this session.
The legislation has established a timeline and a committee, including representatives from KSU, the commission, Sen. John Patterson and the school districts, and has met twice to explore possible plans.
Anderson said there are a lot of unknowns, such as the cost of a school for 1,500 students, and how large a bond voters from the new district would have to approve to build it.
She was also concerned about the future of the board of education if Cardinal agrees to consolidate.
“(The state) will dissolve the district,” Anderson said, adding it will appoint a new board of education until the following election, when the combined district will choose members for the new district’s board of education.
“The state will be dictating a lot of things we will no longer have a say in. We don’t keep our turf any more,” Anderson said, adding she recently learned the Geauga Growth Partnership is involved in the project.
She said one of her children, who were homeschooled for a few years, has been matched up by GGP with a local employer for a summer job.
Board member Nancy Ferguson — who is a member of the consolidation committee along with board President Ken Klima and Superintendent Scott Hunt — said the committee is studying models of different schools to determine the best way to bring two or three districts together.
“(The plan) is still evolving,” she said, urging the board to give the committee time to come up with the figures and details Anderson requested.
The timeline gives the school boards until September 2015 to decide if they will support consolidation and, if they do, their residents will vote on the issue the following November, Ferguson said.
“I like to concentrate on the positive benefits (of consolidation) and what is best for educating our children for the future,” she said. “I am thinking of the whole.”
Board member Katie Thomas, a former teacher, said she sees a lot of hurdles on the track to consolidation and she doesn’t put a lot of confidence in the state legislature.
“The state board of education is looking at what we need,” she said, adding that other than KSUGeauga Interim Dean Jarrod Tudor, no one on the committee is an educator.
Besides local district representatives, members are attorneys, legislators and bankers, Thomas said.
“I’m cautious. I want to see the plan. I’m not ready to jump on board in two or three months,” she said.
Klima said the committee is still investigating options and Cardinal board members should continue to attend the meetings, adding he feels Cardinal teachers are doing a good job educating students now.
“All students deserve as much education as they can take. I think we’re on the right track,” he said.