The Effects of School Consolidation
A family almost always reacts negatively upon learning its child's school will be consolidated with another one. Although there is a definite downside to school consolidation, there are also many positive effects. If a school district makes an effort to explain to parents the reasons for consolodation, often the trauma, and the protests, can be kept to a minimum.
-
Financial Considerations
-
Consolidating usually saves a school district an enormous amount of money. The district will eliminate an entire facility, which may even be sold at a profit, and eliminates maintenance costs at that site. Of course, there will be a large savings in terms of staff positions cut. In some cases, however, there will be increased costs associated with providing transportation for kids who may have previously walked to school.
Staff Cuts
-
Consolidation will cause reductions in teachers, administrative staff and support personnel, such as secretaries and custodians. Although this may be financially advantageous, issues will naturally arise as to what staff members will be retained. Basing the decision on length of employment with the district may not necessarily result in retaining the most qualified individuals. Teachers' professional organizations may get involved in the decision-making process concerning staff cuts.
-
Transportation
-
In consolidating schools there is bound to be an increased number of students who will need transportation to school. Buses may have to be added to the school district fleet and bus routes may become considerably lengthened. Longer bus routes may require an adjustment of the length of the school day, and they may require long rides, which will particularly affect younger children.
Larger Class Size
-
When the population of two schools is consolidated into one facility, class size will almost always be enlarged because of the limited numbers of classrooms. In an elementary school, this means that individualized instruction for reading and beginning mathematics that children may have gotten before the consolidation will be limited. On the secondary level, larger class size normally results in such curricular changes as fewer writing assignments. That's because English teachers can only evaluate a finite number of essays, for example. There will also probably be less hands-on experience in science classes.
Increased Subject Offerings
-
A significantly positive effect of school consolidation is the number of courses the new combined school is able to offer. For example, if only a handful of kids wanted to enroll in an advanced math or foreign language class in their previous schools, demand for those classes would not be sufficient for offering the course. If there were not enough students interested in instrumental music class, a teacher might not be hired; combining schools might give students an opportunity to participate in band.
-
