Consolidating School Districts

It’s apparent that drastic changes are taking place in public education in New Jersey and while some will fight it I would imagine at the end of the day they’ll need to accept it. The focus in going forward is to consolidate smaller districts which are just not cost-effective…and make no mistake about it money is what’s going to rule the day. I know many find charm in small schools and nobody would argue the fact that you probably get a better education when there are 15 students in a class as opposed to 35. However taxpayers in this state more than anything else are demanding efficiency and it’s hard to argue that all these small school districts are just that.

Let’s face it we have so-called districts that are made up of a single elementary school yet retain their own Superintendent and Board of Education. Public education officials in New Jersey want them to merge either with an existing school district or even form their own larger one.
In that scenario you would eliminate considerable costs and increase efficiency. The push out of Trenton is to also do away with districts that are made up only of elementary schools and ultimately have them all part of ones that include Middle and High Schools as well.

These initiatives are being met with a lot of obstacles because there are many situations where people want to retain their small school status. It may be what attracted them to a community in the first place so it’s hard to accept that changes are coming but in the end fiscal responsibility is going to the main factor and in most scenarios the taxpayer will be better served by fewer districts and less administrative costs.

One of the most interesting developments to watch in our area is what happens with schools in Point Pleasant and Point Pleasant Beach. There has been talk that these two might merge, especially when you consider that the high school in the beach is among the smallest in the state. Neither town wants this to happen and it may take years but it does appear inevitable because change is coming.