Final state budget funds school consolidation panel

Local school officials were alarmed after looking at the legislature’s finalized supplemental budget and finding $250,000 slated to create a commission that would draw up a plan for combining small schools.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Colfax Superintendent Michael Morgan. “They keep looking at this in terms of saving money, but they don’t seem to worry about the quality of education kids can get from small schools.”

Introduced by Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Olympia, the measure dedicated funding for the panel.

“Unfortunately some of our colleagues from larger areas seem to think it’s okay to put five or six-year-old kids on a bus for two hours a day to go to school,” said Rep. Susan Fagan, R-Pullman.

The three legislators from District 9 all voted with state Republicans against the creation of the commission.

Sen. Fraser put the commission funding into the senate budget early in the session. School officials and other community members from around the state objected.

“It’s just disastrous for these small towns to lose their schools. You lose your funding base, you lose your employee base,” said Supt. Morgan. “And then your property values decrease and what happens to your town?”

The new merger commission will be required to report its plan to the legislature by Dec. 1, 2012.

Morgan said he thought the consolidation panel had gone away until seeing it included in the final budget.

Fagan called the commission redundant.

An independent state panel is currently conducting another study on small school consolidation. Those results will be reported to the legislature by the end of this year for use in next year’s budget.

“To me that’s kind of a waste of money,” said Morgan. “I’d like to have a shot at the $250,000.”

Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said he tried to amend Fraser’s bill to re-funnel the $250,000 appropriation to school nutrition programs, but was voted down by the Democratic majority.

“You would think with a multi-billion dollar deficit we would have better things to worry about,” Schoesler added.

He said he has seen such studies of school consolidation crop up regularly during his decade-plus in the state capital.

“It really is a cottage industry in Olympia,” said Schoesler.

“Unless the budget changes I think it’s going to continue to rear its ugly head,” said Colton Supt. Nate Smith.