The Clarion Area School Board had a surprise guest at its work session earlier this month as Clarion-Limestone School Board President Nathaniel Parker made an impromptu presentation to the board regarding the possibility of the districts sharing services.
“I wanted to see whether or not (the Clarion Area) school board had interest in having discussions to see whether or not there are other areas where we can collaborate and try to find ways to be more efficient for our taxpayers and be more prolific for our students,” Parker said.
Currently, Clarion and C-L partner in special education services.
Parker believes the sharing of services could go further than the two districts.
“Are there ways we could work together and start something that might go to other schools, too?” Parker said. “There are a lot of other schools in the surrounding area.”
He said the goal would be to “find a mechanism,” something that provides “all of our kids more robust programming such as Advanced Placement courses, industrial arts classes, etc.”
C-L has a vocational agriculture program that includes welding instruction, and Parker said C-L has been asked by other districts about students coming to C-L for welding courses.
“There is no limit to what I see being out there, but it has to be cost-effective for both districts,” Parker said.
Staying independent
If there were to be a collaboration, Parker believes the districts’ keeping their independence is crucial.
“We have to make sure both districts maintain their autonomy,” he said. “I know your district has constituents who don’t want to be run by me and my board and I have constituents who don’t want to be run by you and your board.”
He conceded there are “some key hurdles” and “important issues” that must be addressed. “There are going to be some impassioned people that even though I say I don’t want to merge the schools who will say that’s what I’m doing.
“I have no desire to (merge the districts) and my board has not told me to do that. What (my board) has indicated is a willingness to at least have discussions.”
Parker believes sports programs must be kept separate. Clarion and C-L are currently in cooperative agreements in football, boys soccer, girls soccer and wrestling.
“If you take that and put that off to the side and just try to educate kids, whether it’s for getting them ready for a career or to get them ready for college, that’s the focus and that’s what we should be here for.”
Which programs work
Parker believes the districts must determine which academic program collaborations work, which ones don’t and determine how to fix them. Parker also realizes the financial limits of both districts.
“There is only so much you guys can do with your resources much like there is only so much we can do with our resources; both of our districts have a limited checkbook,” he said. “To me, there have to be certain programs that lend themselves to working together.
“There are also programs out there that just don’t work together. Let’s just figure out the programs that don’t work and leave them alone. If we find something we can work together on, it would cut … costs in half.”
Clarion Area School Board President Hugh Henry said he understands Parker’s concern regarding people thinking he could be trying to merge the districts.
“In the past we have had committees put together and sometimes the public thinks when you build a committee, you are headed in a certain direction,” Henry said. “Have you given any thought to how we would resource materials or have research without concerning the districts on these subjects?”
Parker said to that degree “messaging and communication” are vital. “Admittedly, at C-L we struggle with that and that has caused us issue because the rumor mill tends to go even though there is no truth to it.”
Parker believes select members of both boards should be involved in the discussions.
“I think it would be good to have some key people meet and have discussions,” he said. “We don’t need a committee necessarily, but we also don’t need a quorum of the board. Maybe just a couple people from each board and the administration.”
Redundancy is something Parker believes a sharing situation could help solve.
“It just doesn’t make sense for us financially to duplicate the same programs,” he said.
Henry told Parker that he and the Clarion board will discuss the issue.
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