Carlynton bid for merger talks gets cold shoulder
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Montour school superintendent Donald Boyer said he would take Carlynton School District's request to discuss a merger to the board, but Mr. Boyer didn't see a need for Montour to merge.
"I personally don't see any benefit to Montour," said Mr. Boyer, who is a partner in the company that performed a merger study that resulted in Center and Monaca school districts in Beaver County becoming Central Valley in 2009 after years of talks.
He said he would discuss it with the board, probably this month, but "there's a little more to it than just deciding that you want to go to a meeting about mergers."
After Carlynton board President Thomas Brown raised the question at a March board meeting, Carlynton superintendent Michael Panza sent a letter to Montour, Keystone Oaks and Chartiers Valley inviting the superintendents and board presidents to talk informally about the prospect of merging.
Carlynton has 1,460 students; Keystone Oaks, about 2,050; and Montour, nearly 3,000 students.
Keystone Oaks is leaning toward attending a meeting, Chartiers Valley has said "no," and the Montour board has not yet discussed the proposal.
Mr. Panza wrote: "In light of Gov. [Tom] Corbett's proposed budget, we would appreciate an opportunity to have an informal conversation between superintendents and board presidents. The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss consolidation/merger of our districts."
On Monday, Keystone Oaks superintendent William Urbanek said, "I've not been given specific directions, but I think the board is willing to have informal conversations."
With tighter budgets ahead, Mr. Urbanek said, "I think we have to look at every option out there."
Also on Monday, Chartiers Valley spokesman Charles McCartney said, "Right now, I don't believe our school board is interested in entertaining any thoughts of a merger or expansion."
On Monday, Mr. Panza said he hadn't heard back from the Montour School District. On Tuesday in a phone interview, Mr. Boyer weighed in on the issue.
Mr. Boyer, who said he had participated in merger studies in eight or nine districts over the past decade, noted that school districts must charge a uniform tax rate.
"Since Montour has the lowest tax rate of any of the districts that have been mentioned, someone would have to really do a study to come up with something that would make it worthwhile for Montour to do that. No district is gong to meet with others and raise taxes so they can merge with them," he said.
The property tax rate is 18.9 mills in Montour, 22.03 in Keystone Oaks and 24.15 in Carlynton.
He also said the size of Montour was about the size that a Standard & Poor's study said was the most economically feasible.
As to just talking with Carlynton about it, Mr. Boyer said he thought a better first step would be an invitation to a presentation by someone who could explain the ins and outs of mergers.
He said he would want more specifics on a meeting, noting the board had other work to tend to such as the building program. "I think they'd be kind of reluctant to get involved in any discussions," he said.
First Published April 7, 2011 5:16 am
