School Districts Rally for Efficiency Grant

Several South Fork school districts are jointly applying for a state grant to study how they can become more efficient through shared services and, perhaps, consolidation.

, , , , and have agreed to pursue funding for the Department of State's Local Government Efficiency Grant program, which seeks to find ways to lower local government expenses and property taxes and implement new efficiencies. The Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services has also agreed to take part, making for a total of seven districts and nearly $195,000 in potential money for the study.

The participating districts "are seeking to design and implement a study that closely examines a continuum of options ranging from the least transformative — the sharing of services, to the most extreme — consolidation, and all variations in between," a Springs School District statement reads.

Southampton Superintendent J. Richard Boyes, Ed.D., said that he does not know what the future holds as far as consolidation between Southampton and Tuckahoe school districts — Tuckahoe already tuitions most of its ninth through 12th graders to Southampton High School — but he said district administrators have met several times to discuss sharing services.

Boyes said Southampton and Tuckahoe are already working toward sharing transportation services. Southampton's buses to parochial schools and BOCES have extra capacity, so Tuckahoe students could be added to the routes, he said.

“It’s a win-win for both districts,” he said, adding that other noneducational services, such as food service, are also being looked at.

“We’re interested in anything that can benefit us both educationally and financially," Boyes said. Southampton School District does not want to cut programs because of a lack of budget or lack of enrollment, and sharing services is a means toward keep programs intact while providing relief to taxpayers, he said.

Up to $4 million of the state budget was appropriated for the grant program. 

With seven districts participating in the study, the Department of State would contribute $175,000 with the districts sharing a cost of $19,444. Each district will contribute $2,777, making for a total project cost of $194,444.

More than 5,892 students are served in these districts that cover about 140 square miles of the South Fork.

The Springs School Board said the collaboration started after and Springs. A rider had been included in the resolution that the two districts had to participate in a .

The boards would have to approve sharing services by a vote. District consolidation requires school board approval and a public referendum.

, I-Sag Harbor, noted that this is a competitive grant and that the application will have to be a good one to get the funds. But, he said he was optimistic for the districts. "What makes this appealing is that you've got six school districts involved. The sheer number of it makes it interesting to a governor ...," he said.

Several years ago, Center Moriches and East Moriches school districts received the grant to study consolidation. Thiele said the study showed it would be beneficial, but nothing was done. The program was also implemented to study the proposed 5 Town Rural Transit System, he said.