Talks continued Monday about a possible merger between the Ilion and Mohawk central school districts.
Ilion Central School Superintendent Cosimo Tangorra asked the school board for their questions or concerns regarding a possible feasibility study for a merger.
One board member asked just how far shared services between the two school districts could go without becoming one new district. Options ranged from sharing transportation, food service, maintenance, athletic programs and some teaching services, said Tangorra.
“We can go quite far, certainly much more than right now,” he said, since the school districts already share some services.
Tangorra is authoring a $45,000 grant application to the Local Government Services, a division of the Department of State that will fund the feasibility study. Each school district will also match $2,500 for the study.
The Mohawk school board approved of two resolutions last week that authorized going ahead with the feasibility study. They are scheduled to discuss the study at their Feb. 22 regular meeting.
Tangorra said hypothetically, if a committee formed by April, a straw vote could be taken in January, a referendum in February with actual re-organization beginning in July 2011.
A cut in state aid regenerated talks about merging the two school districts over a year ago. A merger study was done several years ago, but was never voted on.
“We are on the front edge of a wave of a conversation that will be taking place statewide,” he said.
The Oppenheim-Ephratah school district is currently discussing merger with the St. Johnsville school district. The two districts already share athletic programs.
Ilion, N.Y. —
