The Center and Monaca school boards have come to a tentative understanding on three of the four points standing in the way of a proposed consolidation of the two districts.

Unfortunately, the fourth point -- the boards' two different visions for school alignment -- appears to be by far the most important to both, and the gap between them is as wide as ever.

Center Superintendent Dan Matsook, board President Richard "Bucky" Nicastro and board member John McCracken met Tuesday night with Monaca Superintendent Mike Thomas and board Vice-President Mike Halama to discuss the consolidation, which was approved by both boards in October but has been stalled by the Center board since it got six new members in December.

According to a news release issued by the two superintendents, the two sides agreed that a new, consolidated district would be divided into equal regions for school board seats, most likely three regions with three seats each. There was also agreement to develop a process that would let students help pick a new name, colors and mascot; and that the districts would lobby the state to help make up for revenue lost by eliminating the mercantile tax in Center, which would be necessary under state law because there is no mercantile tax in Monaca.

The agreements are outlines, and would have to be spelled out in detail and approved by both full boards, but the two sides are at least together on the concepts.

It's a different matter when it comes to deciding where the new districts' children would go to school.

When the boards approved the consolidation in October, the plan was to house all elementary children in Center's existing Center Grange Primary Center and Todd Lane Elementary School, to turn Monaca Junior/Senior High School into middle school for all children, and to use Center's middle school/high school complex as a high school for all students.

The Monaca board is sticking with that concept. The Center board has proposed turning the Monaca high school into an elementary school for Monaca children, then bringing the Monaca children to Center for middle school and high school.

The news release said the issue would "remain under consideration," but there has apparently been little movement.

Center's primary argument for its plan is that it would give Monaca a neighborhood elementary school. Monaca has argued that Center's plan would overcrowd the middle school/high school complex and would put Monaca elementary children in a building designed for high school students.

Monaca has also said that Center's plan would cause differences in class sizes on the elementary level, would create some duplication of services on the elementary level and would require hiring three or four more staff people at an annual cost of $300,000 to $600,000.

The original plan, meanwhile, would put all primary children in the new Center Grange building that was built with extra space in anticipation of consolidation. It would put middle school children in a school with their own library, auditorium, gym and athletic fields -- things they would have to share with the high-schoolers under Center's plan.

At the high school, meanwhile, it would leave extra space for videoconferencing rooms to take advantage of courses offered online, and extra art and foreign language room.

The neighborhood school model, meanwhile, has been on the decline in recent years as districts nationwide consolidate to save money. Hopewell, for instance -- which has been cited by Center as an example of districts that maintain neighborhood schools -- voted Tuesday night to close Raccoon Elementary.

Facing enrollment decline of its own, Hopewell has a long-term plan that suggests closing Independence Elementary and consolidating its schools into more of a campus concept.

"Our problem was we had class sizes of 25 in one building and 16 in another," Hopewell Superintendent Charles Reina said.

There were 12 available classrooms at Hopewell Elementary School. Putting Raccoon students into Hopewell Elementary will fill those classrooms, equalize class sizes and eliminate the need for extra principals, librarians, nurses and support staff.

"From an efficiency standpoint, probably the one-site model is better," Dr. Reina said, though he added that Hopewell would have kept Raccoon open if it could.

The Monaca board has also made it clear that the typical advantages of neighborhood schools -- the opportunity to go to school close to home in a community-friendly setting with children that live nearby -- are not significant in their case. Most Monaca children would still have to be bused, and for children from downtown Monaca going up the hill to the high school's suburban setting would be little different from crossing the line into Center.