Our schools keep telling us that a school merger will bring savings for taxpayers and a better educational experience for students. There is lots of evidence posted here and here that disputes that claim. But what about the local experience right here in the Mohawk Valley? In both OESJ and CVA, the evidence points to no advantage to merging schools.

CVA
In 2013, the Ilion and Mohawk school districts merged to form the new district called Central Valley Academy. Herkimer Central School was a part of that merger process, but they chose to remain independent. The previous post: What is the (True) Financial Experience of Schools that Merge? (Two) provided some financial information comparing the merged and un-merged school districts. Here is more information comparing finances, enrollment and dropout rates.

Result: There was no local school tax advantage to merging schools. In recent years, CVA school taxes have increased more than Herkimer, as CVA feels the pinch of incentive aid reductions.

Result: Ilion and Mohawk had lower dropout rates than Herkimer before the merger. After the merger, for five straight years, CVA had a higher rate; and in the 12 years post merger, CVA’s dropout rate has been higher more often than not. CVA also lost more enrollment. If merging brings advantages to students, why does CVA struggle more in attracting and keeping students?

OESJ
For our second and even more local example, St. Johnsville and Oppenheim-Ephratah merged in 2014 to form the OESJ School District. For this example, we present data comparing their experience in the succeeding years with the un-merged Canajoharie and Fort Plain.

Result: There was no local school tax advantage to merging schools. OESJ had higher tax increases than Fort Plain in all four recent years, and higher than Canajoharie in three of the four years.

Result: Both St. Johnsville and O-E had lower dropout rates than Canajoharie in the years immediately before the merger. In the 12 years since, Canajoharie has had a lower rate in every year but one. Similarly, Fort Plain had similar dropout rates before the OESJ merger, but had higher rates in only 2 of the 12 years since. If merging brings advantages to students, why does OESJ struggle more in attracting and keeping students?

Where, O Merger, are your advantages? Dozens and dozens of research studies, and all of the recent local data, clearly show that merging schools fails to produce either financial or educational advantages for students or communities. Merger proponents: are you paying attention?