The Berkshire Schools School Board formally delayed a vote on potential consolidation with Newbury Schools at Monday’s school board meeting. However, the board itself did not take an actual board vote to delay the issue.
Rather, Board President John Manfredi addressed the roughly 100 students, staff and residents in attendance about the issue.
He said state funding snafus and a lack of guarantees from the state ultimately decided the issue’s fate. The state requested deadlines for funding and strategy with regard to consolidation, but Manfredi said the board was not ready to move on the issue without further information.
“If you want a levy of our own, that’s something we can do,” Manfredi told the residents. “We’re trying to think outside the box.”
On Tuesday, Newbury Schools Superintendent Richard Wagner told the Geauga County Maple Leaf he felt the issue died because the Berkshire Schools school board could not agree to put it either on the November 2014 ballot or the May 2015 ballot.
“I think consolidation is a dead issue,” Wagner said.
The Newbury School District will not continue to operate in the black past the 2015-16 school year, he added.
At the start of the public information session, resident Mark Rhoades said Manfredi and board member Jim Koster should “stand down” due to the consolidation issue, claiming there was a lack of answers and clear explanations about the situation from the board.
Burton Public Library director Holly Manning Lynn asked about whether or not the Geauga County Educational Service Center could help the situation, but board members said that entity would not be able to do much.
“There’s no magic answer here. Money is getting short,” board member Roger Miller said. “I don’t think anyone has said for sure that this would work. We’re taking it really slow and there’s a lot of information to digest.”
Miller said the school board has been on board in terms of investigating the issue, but not having financial numbers yet as a result of the proposal was a challenge.
After the meeting, board member Jim Koster said about 100 district residents met with Sarah Fowler, the Ohio Department of Education state school board representative for the District 7 region, on Friday night at Burton Congregational Church for a question-and-answer session.
Koster said the residents then brought their questions and comments to Monday’s school board meeting.
Resident Shelley McDermott said she wanted to confirm that the delay was for real and that it would not be on the November 2014 ballot.
Manfredi confirmed it and said last week he sent an e-mail to the president of the state school board, Debe Terhar, about the issue, notifying the state that Berkshire wanted to delay the issue until more information was received.
“I understand you said it was delayed,” McDermott said. “But what does that mean?”
“It will not be on the ballot,” Manfredi replied. “We do not have enough information to go on.”
McDermott, a Berkshire graduate, said she understood that, but said she just wanted “what was best for the kids.”
Miller said he was appreciative of audience feedback.
“You’re an educated community,” he said. “I give you credit for coming out tonight and being with us.”
Resident Sue Miller asked whether or not the board could hire a public information officer to convey the information to the residents. She said the district used to have a newsletter but no longer does.
“The board has not communicated well with the residents and we need a public information officer,” Miller said. “Without one, there will be rumors and misinformation floating around.”
Treasurer Beth McCaffrey said the issue was complex because there were four potential funding scenarios that would affect the district.
A year ago, both Newbury and Berkshire school boards looked into the situation. By last August, conversations grew “more intense,” Manfredi said, so they tried to reach out to the state for more information.
“But, we found out that we had to do a lot of digging on our own,” he added. “How do you put together a plan if there are no guarantees?”
Board member Tim Honkala said he was proud to be from Berkshire and said he would always remain a supporter of the district.
“I’d take our teachers and put them up against anyone on the state,” Honkala said. “I didn’t want to see the work this board over the past few years go down the tubes.”
At the end of the meeting, former school board member Jim Timmons spoke.
“You’re only as good as the information you got,” Timmons said. “Things haven’t changed in 20 years. The state is still the state. All we can do is fill in the holes.”