Residents, officials wary of school consolidation School officials question cost savings, while state Senate postpones vote BY JAY BODAS Staff Writer Would consolidating the Metuchen school district with that of Edison lower residents’ property taxes? And even if it did, would those savings be worth it? Those were just some of the questions high on the minds of the 300 parents, school officials, and local and state-level politicians who attended a Dec. 6 presentation on school system consolidation issues held at Moss School. “In the state government, four bipartisan committees led by a Democratic majority were created, and on Nov. 15, the four committees released a total of 98 proposals,” said resident Kim Brenneman. “We will focus on the few that seem most likely to affect our schools. The details on these proposals are quite sketchy for some of them. Still, the legislative process is moving very quickly, and we cannot wait for all of the details before we get involved.” The proposals are meant to bring reform to the state’s property taxes, with the goal of reducing property taxes for residents by an average of 20 percent. However, some residents at last week’s forum balked at the idea that the proposed reforms would accomplish that goal. Brenneman said she was particularly concerned by one bill, named S42 in the state Senate and A4 in the Assembly, that expands the powers of the county superintendent of schools. The bill was due for a vote in the Senate on Monday, but it was postponed to at least later this week, pending “further discussion,” said state Sen. Barbara Buono. “I voiced my concerns that I had serious reservations about the expansive powers this super-superintendent would have, including veto power over local school budgets, and there were other individuals with similar concerns,” Buono said on Monday. At last week’s forum, Brenneman said she was concerned the proposed powers of the position would facilitate consolidation of school districts. “These county superintendents would consolidate school management and recommend districts for consolidation,” Brenneman said. “These super-superintendents would be a political appointee, not necessarily an educator, and would be chosen by the governor. A two-year appointment for this position also does not appear that it would provide for continuity.” Continuing with the presentation, Board of Education member Devra Golbe and professor of economics at Hunter College summarized several studies that found that the most efficient school districts were those that have between 2,000 and 4,000 students. “Metuchen has 1,970 students,” Golbe said. “We are right there on the edge of optimal school size. Edison has about 14,000 kids, so they are already bigger than optimal size. So merging Edison with Metuchen will not get it closer to optimal size, it will get it further away.” The evidence tells us that for very small districts, such as for those under 500 kids, consolidation may reduce costs, she said. “But it also tells us that county-wide school districts are probably way too big from a cost standpoint for efficiency,” Golbe said. “The bulk of the costs in education are labor costs, which do not change with district size unless class or school size changes. By law, combining districts adopt the larger district’s pay scale, which may be higher.” Golbe gave an example to show there would be little likely savings if the two combined. “If for example, Metuchen were to merge with Edison, it would cost us about $1.5 million right off the bat,” she said. “Finally, if the state chooses to use carrots rather than sticks to make this happen, then those financial incentives to the districts it would have to provide would eat up some portion of the savings.” Residents Mary Pahlow and Ken Kacani also spoke in support of keeping Metuchen school district independent, citing the borough’s small-town feel and identity. “We wanted to be a part of a small community, where we could work with other parents,” Pahlow said. “We are concerned that the issue which brings us together might compromise what we have taken for granted in our years in Metuchen. As a community we value this access, and we feel great ownership in assisting our schools in any way that we can.” Life-long resident Kacani agreed. “The history of this town is based on a group of people who created their own identity,” Kacani said. “My mother always knew the teachers and the principals, and she wanted to be involved. The idea of creating a super-superintendent goes against that premise. To me, this means that it would take more time to make decisions. I would hate to see the standard set by our board and superintendent be diminished in any way.” Also present that evening was Metuchen Mayor Edmund O’Brien, who said that the average Metuchen homeowner paid approximately $297 more in taxes than the average Edison resident, but that in exchange Metuchen residents received a better quality of services. “For that, in my opinion, we get better service,” O’Brien said. “One is in terms of trash collection … and in police services. For example, if you have an accident in the township of Edison on private property, you will not get a police report which will be quite helpful … or if you are locked out of your car, Metuchen police will be there to try and open it.” O’Brien said that Metuchen was a “more efficient” municipality than neighboring Edison and that the borough should receive more state aid, saying it is currently “almost on the bottom” in the amount of aid it receives. “I would say that the important number … is the per capita cost of government per homeowner,” he said. “The cost of government per homeowner is lower in Metuchen, meaning we are more efficient in Metuchen to some extent.” “Also, the city of Hoboken gets 23.6 percent [of its budget] in state aid which is more than double what we get,” he said. “Now, there is something wrong with that calculation in terms of how aid is distributed.”