Back in February, Gov. Jennifer Granholm warned Michigan school districts to start consolidating services at the county and regional level to save money ? or else!
‘A year from now, I’ll submit a budget that will penalize those who haven’t embraced this common sense way to put more dollars in the classroom,? she said in her State of the State Address.
But for Oxford, a 96-square-mile, 4,300-student district located in northern Oakland County and extending into Lapeer County, that’s often easier said than done.
‘It’s so hard for us because we’re so far, people don’t want to share with us,? said Interim Superintendent Ron Franey. ‘One of our problems is we’re at the north end of Oakland County. That makes it harder for us to coordinate some programs with other districts.
‘Obviously, if we were in the middle, we would have surrounding districts to share with,? he explained. ‘But when you cross the county border, it’s harder.?
But while cooperation may be difficult, it’s not impossible and is already being practiced in certain areas.
For example, Oxford shares an instructor with the Holly school district who teaches English as a second language.
The teacher spends three days a week in Holly and two in Oxford.
‘There’s a lot of little things like that that do happen,? Franey said.
Purchasing
There are some ways the district already saves money through the larger Oakland Intermediate School District (ISD), which encompasses all 28 school districts throughout the county.
For instance, during the 2005-06 school year Oxford saved $31,319 through Oakland Schools Regional Educational Media Center (REMC).
REMC provides effective cost-savings through statewide cooperative purchasing of electronic classroom aids including computer hardware and software, audio/visual equipment, art supplies and paper products.
Oxford made 872 purchases through REMC in 2005-06 totalling $40,702. If the district had made those purchases according to their list price, it would have spent $72,021.
Oakland Schools also secures cooperative bids on classroom supplies, custodial supplies, office supplies, paper and magazine subscriptions.
All 28 school districts are given a list of who won the bids and each has the option of purchasing items from the bidders, if they wish.
‘We try to buy our bigger purchases off of that list and then throughout the year we buy more locally,? Franey said. ‘They basically tell you when they bid these out, these are lowest prices you’re going to get. That doesn’t always occur because somebody has a sale and you can get something cheaper.?
‘Oxford didn’t use it quite a lot last year,? according Mike Rangos from Oakland Schools Office of Purchasing Management. ‘They used it to the tune of about $428.?
‘While it doesn’t sound like much, they also use a company called Hospital Purchasing Service (HPS) for a lot of their food supplies and so on,? he explained. ‘They save quite a bit if they use them.?
Consisting of more than 2,600 not-for-profit members, including schools, located throughout the Great Lakes, Central and Southern states, HPS is a group purchasing association.
‘A lot of school districts use it for their contracts for purchasing food and supplies for their food service program,? said Tim Loock, executive director for business and finance. ‘Oxford participates in that. The majority of it comes through that cooperative.?
Payroll
Payroll is one of those business services that could be consolidated, according to Franey.
‘Oakland Schools already does it for some districts,? he said. ‘They do it for Madison.?
Franey said the ISD has previously offered to do Oxford’s payroll, but there would be some challenges involved.
‘It’s very hard because everybody’s payroll and benefits are different,? he said. ‘You would still need somebody here to handle it all on this end ? to input it into (Oakland Schools) system.?
He also noted that that not all the districts are on the ISD’s computer system.
‘We’re not on their computer system,? Franey said. ‘Ten years ago almost all the school districts in Oakland County were on their computer system, but probably because of politics over the years, we’re not all on it now.?
Transportation
When it comes to sharing transportation services for students who travel outside the district for special education, geography is a major stumbling block.
‘The problem is I’m up here in that northeast quadrant,? said Transportation Supervisor Charlene Podzikowski. ‘I’ve got Romeo on the one side of me, Lapeer on the top part of me. I really don’t go their way and they don’t come my way to go through. So not a whole lot of people can help us because I’m going south with all our special needs children.?
Having a 96-square-mile district is another obstacle.
‘It takes us so long to just collect the kids in our district, then leave the district to make the trip down to (places like Bloomfield, Pontiac, Waterford, Orion, etc.)? Podzikowski said. ‘Some kids are on the bus for an hour-and-a-half or more.?
‘The districts that have less square miles are already helping each other,? she noted.
Factor in all the special needs each child requires and the concept of sharing transportation becomes even harder.
‘We have got kids that have to have air conditioning or they have to have a (medical) monitor,? Podzikowski said. ‘Some kids can only be on the bus for an hour because they have a medical need. Some can be on it for an hour-and-a-half. Some have got brittle bones. There are so many different needs we have to accomdate.?
Although it’s a difficult task, efforts are underway to make transporting special needs students more efficient.
Podzikowski said Oakland Schools is coordinating regular meetings between transportation supervisors from the county’s four quadrants to explore ways to combine students from different districts attending the same facilities on fewer buses thereby saving the districts money.
‘It’s kind of in the infant stages with us,? he said. ‘Even if we can’t help each other, we want the other (quadrants) to know the issues we have.?
Consolidating districts
So if consolidating services saves money, what about consolidating entire school districts?
‘I agree there are some small districts in southeastern Oakland County that someone could definitely look at consolidating,? Franey said. ‘Any districts under 2,000 or 2,200 (students), they could be combined with others, especially if you have three or four right next to each other.?
But Franey doesn’t believe it’s ‘practical? to consolidate a district like Oxford with its ever-increasing student population and sprawling geographic boundaries.
‘I wouldn’t pick Oxford because we’re 96-square miles, we’re very large and we’re growing,? he explained. ‘You could still do it, but I don’t think that’s the smartest thing to do because we are growing. I think in a few years you’d try to look at separating it.?
Before she was placed on administrative leave March 27, Oxford Superintendent Virginia Brennan-Kyro told this reporter school pride and ‘loyalty? to high school sports teams are also stumbling blocks when it comes to consolidating entire districts.
‘People bleed the colors of their schools,? she explained. ‘Just like everyone here bleeds blue and gold, that’s true for every district. That’s where the difficulty comes in.?
Brennan-Kyro also believes geographic size is a big factor when determining the practicality of two or more districts consolidating into one.
‘As the districts get larger, they become more difficult to manage,? she said.
While it would be challenging to consolidate Oxford with another district due to its size, it’s not impossible.
‘I do know you can go bigger than 96 square miles,? Brennan-Kyro said, noting the school district she worked for prior to Oxford, East China, was a 149-square-mile consolidated district.