Berkshire Schools Board of Education President John Manfredi and Superintendent Doug DeLong reassured about 50 district residents that consolidation was “not a done deal” with Newbury Schools to the west.
During the public comment section of Monday’s school board meeting, residents asked the board members, superintendent and Treasurer Beth McCaffrey about the ramifications of potential consolidation with their neighbor.
All residents who spoke were against the issue, citing various alleged consequences that would benefit Newbury residents, but not Berkshire residents.
“This isn’t a done deal by any means,” Manfredi told the crowd, composed of residents and Berkshire staff and teachers in purple Badgers gear. “Our board has the ability to stop this train from leaving at any time.”
The school board opened the meeting at 6 p.m. and then went into executive session for about 75 minutes. Between 7:15 and 7:45 p.m., they held a routine meeting—which included approving various contracts, inter-district open-enrollment and service agreements — before reaching public comment.
At that point, residents spoke for over an hour on the potential move.
The district is composed of 995 students in Burton Village and Burton, Troy and parts of Claridon townships, according to information provided by the district.
Burton Village resident Judy Lester said she felt Berkshire should vote on the issue as a whole prior to any vote involving Newbury Schools.
“We’re going to lose our voice,” Lester said of the Berkshire community.
Ken and Susan Burzanko, of Burton Township, spoke out against consolidation and voiced the importance of Lester’s idea.
“We deserve the opportunity to either say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’” Ken Burzanko said. “We’re assured a tax increase if this passes and we’re without any real say in that issue. We deserve that right.”
Manfredi said the process takes time. Carey, a school district in western Ohio near Findlay, closed a building built in 1901 several years ago and is just now building a new high school.
He also said the issue of determining a new mascot is important, but there’s more to it than that.
Manfredi said Berea and Midpark high schools in the Berea school district — which consolidated into one new school in the 2013-14 school year — is an example of how consolidation could work within a single district.
However, Newbury and Berkshire are two entirely separate districts that could consolidate, a move that hasn’t occurred in Ohio since the late 1980s.
“This isn’t so much about being purple or what our new school will look at the end,” the board president said. “None of that is decided yet.”
The school board said the next step is for a joint work session with Newbury Schools Board of Education at 6 p.m. March 18 in the Newbury Elementary School auditorium on Auburn Road.
The session is open to the public, DeLong said.