Single District Task Force: Consolidation is a Win-Win-Win Scenario

Town officials, school leaders, and Board of Education representatives from Atlantic Highlands and Highlands gathered together with the County Superintendent of Schools recently to identify the pros and cons of merging the three school districts of Atlantic Highlands Elementary, Henry Hudson Regional, and Highlands Elementary into one. What emerged from the discussion is that there were only pros.

“Because of the ‘equal valuation’ model,” asserted Joseph Passiment, the Monmouth County Executive Superintendent of Schools, “there will be virtually no impact” on tax rates, state aid, federal aid, and even to the configurations of the three schools. Indeed, while the stakeholders who met at Henry Hudson Regional School on Monday for the historic discussion expected a downside to the concept of merging into a single district, they were happy to find out that there was no identifiable shortcoming to the idea of consolidation.

The Tri-District Superintendent of Schools, Susan E. Compton, Ed. D., has made it a cornerstone of her vision for the success of the three school districts to engage in a vigorous self-study via a strategic planning process. One outcome of this process was that all three school districts were interested in finding out whether consolidation is feasible and advantageous. While feasibility studies in the past have identified advantages, such as sharing administrative staff and certain costs to each of the districts, these same studies have also identified unwanted impacts to funding and local taxation. However, because the Department of Education is interested in encouraging more districts – New Jersey has more than 600 separate school districts – to consider merging, it has been quietly building structures that would allow districts to merge without suffering the negative impacts that were once unavoidable in the past.

As a result, a Single District Task Force has been given favorable news and will continue to study the concept and inform the public about its intentions in the upcoming months. This includes a deeper analysis of the financial impacts and the legal ramifications of creating a new consolidated school board of education as well as dissolving the existing boards. All of this will require a great deal of study and articulation, but the Mayors and Borough Administrators of both towns are as excited as school district leaders to see the plan materialize and succeed. Atlantic Highlands Mayor Fred Rast and Highlands Borough Administrator Tim Hill were both on hand for this meeting, while Atlantic Highlands Borough Administrator Adam Hubeny and Mr. Hill also met with the Task Force last week.

Merging into a single school district would allow each school to hold onto its unique identity, structure, and high quality education, but consolidation would also allow for further streamlining services and articulation, creating a far more efficient and effective school system. Superintendent Compton is proud of the ground that has already been covered by the task force, and she is thrilled that key stakeholders – including parents, students, and the teachers associations – have been invited to participate in the process. The task force plans to meet frequently in the coming months and will update the citizens of Atlantic Highlands and Highlands throughout the process making this single school district vision a reality.

For more information, contact the Office of the Superintendent of Schools, 732-872-0900, ext. 2006.