Newbury Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to participate in a study on the possible combining of four school districts into one.
Newbury was the last of the four to agree to investigate the concept.
At a 7:30 a.m. meeting, board President Marty Sanders said the idea of combining Newbury, Cardinal, Ledgemont and Berkshire districts into one district with a new high school on the Kent State University Geauga campus in Burton Township is in the very early stages of discussion.
“I’m getting a lot of feedback. A lot of people realize this is just a first step,” he said.
The resolution was to participate with KSU-Geauga to form a collaboration committee to study the concept of a four-district consolidation.
KSU Geauga Interim Dean Jarrod Tudor has proposed the consolidation as a benefit to area students and a more fiscally practical plan.
Having the proposed high school on the 88-acre university campus could make it easier for students to take part in a program that will allow them to earn college credit hours while still in high school.
Last week, Ledgemont Schools, which is in fiscal emergency and owes money to the state, announced it is in discussions with Berkshire and Madison school districts to join one or the other.
Ohio legislation has been passed to forgive the district’s debt if a consolidation, merger or transfer of territory can be organized by the end of the 2015 school year.
In other action, the board approved the appointment of Anthony Forfia as the high school assistant principal effective Jan. 5.
Forfia, of Lyndhurst, was one of eight candidates interviewed for the position, said high school Principal Michele Mrakovich.
His experience has been at Cleveland Municipal School District and North Coast Academy and he has taught social studies and been a library media specialist, she said.
His contract will run through July 31, 2015, with an annual salary of $71,000, prorated, according to the agenda.