School Mergers

[se7ens]

The open Bourbon County girls basketball job got me thinking. What is the most likely school merger to happen next now that Hopkinsville and Christian County have decided to move forward with merging the city independent district into the county district?

There are two kinds of mergers - schools in the same district consolidate (Harlan County, McCracken County, Floyd County) or one school district is absorbed by another (Hopkinsville into Christian County, Harrodsburg into Mercer County, Silver Grove into Campbell County).

So across the state we definitely have some candidates for consolidation and district absorption, but which one is the most likely to happen next?

[The Raven]

All three would fight it, tooth and nail, but Bellevue, Dayton and Newport independents all need to consider it.  Pooling resources would probably benefit everyone.

[Voice of Reason]

15 hours ago, The Raven said:

All three would fight it, tooth and nail, but Bellevue, Dayton and Newport independents all need to consider it.  Pooling resources would probably benefit everyone.

Could they merge if they wanted to? I am trying to think of another independent school districts merger. All the mergers I can think of are independents into the county school district.

[gchs_uk9]

23 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Could they merge if they wanted to? I am trying to think of another independent school districts merger. All the mergers I can think of are independents into the county school district.

Pretty rare, but also pretty rare for there to be multiple independent districts within the same county. Off the top of my head, Caverna Independent was made from Horse Cave Independent and Cave City Independent, but that was in the early 1950s. I can't recall anything more recent.

[se7ens]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:49 PM, Voice of Reason said:

Could they merge if they wanted to? I am trying to think of another independent school districts merger. All the mergers I can think of are independents into the county school district.

They absolutely could merge if they wanted to. But I would think the reason it is so rare is the way you would have construct the leadership and administrative trees. In a merger where a small independent district gets absorbed by the county district, the leadership tree for the small district is completely disbanded and that is just part of it. And when multiple county schools are combined, you don't have to worry about the school board, just a handful of administrators that you can usually find something to do with.

In this model of combining two or more independent school districts, you would have to have each school district vote for it (possibly unanimously) then you would have to construct a whole new school board and realign administrations from the old districts. Not to mention then what to do with all the people who are now have been rendered redundant. You would almost need to hire a superintendent from outside who has not been associated with any of the districts before to prevent the appearance of bias. Which leaves you with 2 or more unemployed and frustrated superintendents (which means they probably were going to be against it throughout the process just out of survivor mentality). Bottom line, there would be a ton of moving parts and a lot of people with motivations stemming from self preservation that would be against it.

[I gotta go to work]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:49 PM, Voice of Reason said:

Could they merge if they wanted to? I am trying to think of another independent school districts merger. All the mergers I can think of are independents into the county school district.

A rumor I heard several years ago was that all 3 would be merged into one high school but absorbed under Campbell County Schools to create a North Campbell.

[se7ens]

2 hours ago, I gotta go to work said:

A rumor I heard several years ago was that all 3 would be merged into one high school but absorbed under Campbell County Schools to create a North Campbell.

So I would imagine if there was ever a time to push this again, if it is going to happen, is now as Campbell County is heading towards building a new middle school which is poised to be the most northern institution in the district. If they want to build that appropriate to the size of the population they would be serving, then they will want to incorporate those other school districts now.

 

With that said, you would also have the questions about what to do with all the old district buildings. Some would be sold off, some would be converted. And I would imagine that with a possible charter school market in the future that those buildings would be desirable. 

[DanvilleFan]

I'm not sure if I would say it's going to be next but Danville and Boyle County has to be a candidate.  The gap between the two keeps growing and more people are whispering about it in the community.  Danville just got a new superintendent and I think his tenure is going to be a big test of the system's future.

[Voice of Reason]

18 hours ago, DanvilleFan said:

I'm not sure if I would say it's going to be next but Danville and Boyle County has to be a candidate.  The gap between the two keeps growing and more people are whispering about it in the community.  Danville just got a new superintendent and I think his tenure is going to be a big test of the system's future.

That one would be a surprise, and a disappointment. I am a small school fan. There seems to be more and more interest in charter schools and private schools. That is the value that independent public school districts already provide. I know there is a cost factor involved but there should be more independent public schools.

[BIG BLACK JACK]

In South Central KY the only two that come to my mind is Caverna closing and being split between. Barren County HS and Hart County HS. Also I could potentially see Russellville getting consolidated into Logan County HS. 

[rjs4470]

On 5/20/2022 at 9:53 AM, I gotta go to work said:

A rumor I heard several years ago was that all 3 would be merged into one high school but absorbed under Campbell County Schools to create a North Campbell.

I've been hearing this rumor since I moved into the area in 1998. At this point, I'd be shocked if it happened. I know Newport and and I think Dayton have had some struggles in the recent past with performance and management...not sure about Bellevue.  But I think it would take all three performing very badly and probably a big push from the outside to see all three merge. Way too many moving parts, way too much local pride, and not nearly a good enough reason presently for a merger to happen.

[Voice of Reason]

Campbell County has more school districts than any county in Kentucky.

[MJAlltheWay24]

11 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Campbell County has more school districts than any county in Kentucky.

I never would have guess that but counting them in my head, makes sense.

[se7ens]

11 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Campbell County has more school districts than any county in Kentucky.

Newport, Dayton, Southgate, Bellevue, Fort Thomas, Campbell County.

And that's even with the closure of Silver Grove Schools.

Southgate would be odds on favorite to be the next school district shuttered in the state due to the high tax rate associated with it along with the incredibly small size, but that probably won't happen until Campbell has more northerly schools to serve those students. Or one of the more far-fetched alternatives happen.

[se7ens]

39 counties have multiple districts. 9 have more than two. 

 

I would say the ones facing the largest push to close/merge in the future are Southgate, Burgin, Caverna, Pineville, Fairview, Augusta, Jackson, Cloverport, East Bernstadt, Dawson Springs, Jenkins, Science Hill, and Williamsburg.

 

East Bernstadt, Southgate, Science Hill and Anchorage are the four remaining school districts that don't have high schools. I am not familiar with East Bernstadt, but I would imagine like Southgate, the biggest hold up for Science Hill being merged into the county is geographic isolation. And then for Anchorage it's not only the fact it is on the fringes of the county but it's "unique" socio-economic makeup.