Consolidation shouldn’t be just for school districts

Two rural school districts in Gratiot County each needed to hire a new superintendent. They both chose to hire the same person to oversee their separate operations. Ryan Portenga, the current principal of Pewamo-Westphalia Middle/High School in Clinton County, will be the new superintendent of Ashley Community Schools as well as Fulton Schools.

This is a win for the school districts and for taxpayers.

School districts have been a source of pride for generations. Much like following a beloved sports team, many residents describe themselves as a Viking or a Wolf, or whatever their alma mater’s mascot happens to be. Schools offer a shared sense of identity for a community.

This draw may explain why voters across Michigan have been reluctant to consolidate adjoining school districts despite the economic benefits.

These two Gratiot County school districts were fortunate in that their superintendents announced their intentions to retire within months of each other. But the groundwork for this collaboration was laid years before. According to Karla Childers, the school board president at Fulton Schools, the two districts have joint Future Farmers of America chapters and robotics teams. They also have co-op softball and baseball teams at the high school level.

These two examples of cooperation made it easier for the districts to undertake a commonsense plan to share a top leader.

Lawmakers have set aside millions of dollars in the state budget over the past several years, encouraging school districts to study consolidation efforts. But these grants were directed at internal consolidation, such as closing a school building and moving its students to a different location.

None of these grants have gone to studying how districts might share services to reduce administrative overhead. Two districts in the western Upper Peninsula share a superintendent, but that reform was put in place 15 years before the two Gratiot County school districts chose a similar path.

Consolidating local government services, such as public schools, shouldn’t be a remarkable occurrence that is so rare it merits a news story.

When there are opportunities to save on administrative costs, elected leaders should jump at the chance to use tax dollars more efficiently.

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