“These kids will be fine with this — it’s the adults who have to get over it.” – Tim Honkala
Berkshire Schools Board of Education voted 5-0 in favor of merging with Ledgemont Schools Monday.
In so doing, the board removed a lethal stumbling block to the proposed four-school district consolidation with a new high school on Kent State University Geauga campus.
After two executive sessions and more than an hour of comments and questions from the audience of about 40, district Treasurer Beth McCaffrey read the resolution asking the Geauga County Educational Services Center to initiate the transfer of all Ledgemont’s territory to the Berkshire district.
Early in the meeting, held at the Berkshire High School cafeteria, board President Jim Koster said he’d received word that the Ledgemont school board had voted at an earlier meeting Monday to support the transfer of territory to Berkshire.
After the Berkshire board’s vote, McCaffery said she will send the signed resolution to the GCESC, which will vote whether to initiate the transfer.
There will be a 30-day referendum period. If no referendum is filed, the GCESC will vote again on the resolution and, if they approve it, the Berkshire board will vote on whether to accept the transfer, she said.
The transfer, if it occurs by the end of June, will relieve Ledgemont of about $1.9 million in a solvency assistance fund debt to the state, as allowed in House Bill 487, McCaffery said.
As long as that debt hangs over Ledgemont, the plan proposed by KSU-Geauga Interim Dean Jarrod Tudor to create one school district out of four – Ledgemont, Berkshire, Newbury and Cardinal school districts – would be impossible.
Tudor, present at the end of the meeting, said the transfer of territory to Berkshire, once complete, will open the door to the four-district consolidation.
“This was an easy first step,” he said after the meeting.
The crux is that Ledgemont school board had considered a similar action with Madison Schools, its northern neighbor in Lake County. For Tudor’s proposed consolidation to take place, territories within all four districts are required, Tudor previously said.
If Berkshire and Ledgemont merged, the consolidation will only have to involve three school districts.
“Ledgemont needs to stay in Geauga County,” said Tracy Jemison, executive director of Geauga Growth Partnership and a supporter of the four-district consolidation.
The GCESC is due to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the center’s offices at 470 Center St., Chardon.
The first action the board took after its first executive session was to approve Lee Imhoff, former board member and local businessman, to the school board in place of Roger Miller.
Miller recently stepped down from the board in order to serve on the Claridon Township Board of Trustees.
In response to questions from the audience, Berkshire Superintendent Doug DeLong said the influx of Ledgemont students will not increase class size above 30 students.
Rather than overloading the high school classes, the additional students, estimated at 191 in grades seven through 12, may support more class offerings, such as a second foreign language and organic chemistry, depending on what courses the new students sign up for, he said.
Ledgemont students will be invited to attend the Berkshire sixth-grade camp in May, DeLong said, which will give them a chance to get to know each other.
A resident asked if future Berkshire levies will be voted down by the residents of Thompson and Montville townships. McCaffery said there won’t be a need for a new levy for several years.
Berkshire board member Tim Honkala said it will be necessary to let residents in those townships know their students are receiving a more expanded education so it will be up to the school to get that information out to the community.
“These kids will be fine with this — it’s the adults who have to get over it,” he said.
Resident Don Hornak said the opportunity to become part of a consolidated high school is exciting and being able to provide free, all-day kindergarten at Berkshire will be popular.
“When people see exciting things happening in this school district, you’ll see a lot of people support the district,” he said
Several teachers asked the board and administration to do everything they can to keep Berkshire teachers in their positions and one parent said the elimination of pay-to-participate is a big plus for the transfer.
Koster said there have been discussions about holding some Berkshire football games at the Ledgemont field if the transfer takes place.
Marilyn Hornak of Burton Township said she has seen a lot of changes over the years and people have adapted well.
“It behooves us all to get out there and make the best of it,” she said. “We just have to work at it.”
Ledgemont’s Vote
Slightly earlier in the evening, the Ledgemont Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to take any and all action necessary to effectuate a territory transfer of the entire school district to Berkshire Schools.
The board directed the Geauga County Educational Service Center to initiate the transfer, contingent upon the cancelation of Ledgemont’s solvency assistance fund debt.
Unlike at Berkshire’s meeting, there was little discussion or comment from the audience at Ledgemont.
Board member Jim Cozens finally spoke up, breaking the silence.
“When I became a board member, I took an oath to do what I felt was the best for the children, parents, the staff and the administration of this district,” he said. “The state has told us in no uncertain terms what they plan to do with this school system. And, it would be a terrible shame to let that happen. I’m voting for it.”
One by one, Carol Geisman, Cathy Hadley-Samia, Rick Loveland and Barbara Raikes answered “Yes.”
When it came time for board member comments, Geisman said, “I think I’ve said everything I need to say on this topic.”
Hadley-Samia, the board president, added, “I also don’t know what else I could say. It’s been a long, difficult journey. I never thought it would come to this, but it has. I think we need to look forward to what we can accomplish and do for our kids with this transfer.”
