School Merger Shot Down

          Canton-Potsdam school districts have proposed and since vote on a merger between the two school districts. Which to the public overwhelming disapproval did not go through. The state asked for this merger because ever since the 2010-2011 cuts made the county aid has been reduced, and in turn districts have less money and have even had to make cuts. They enacted a Gap Elimination Adjustment which was supposed to adjust districts aid evenly and reduce cuts. But this has come to not help as much as desired. Governor Cuomo has said to blame the Financial turmoil on "lack of efficiency in public schools." 

(Google)

          Vic Rycroft, Canton school board President says the state offer the districts a $75 million reward for merging as well as $75,000 for merger study. to this Vic says the state is trying to pressure schools into merging when it was there negligence who got us here. With their vote, residents were asked to fill out surveys and about 1,500 coming in the public spoke. With more than a majority expressing desire of separate districts. Potsdam Super Intendant Patrick Brady said in an email, “Hopefully, the large showing of support for our schools last week will translate into a grass roots effort to lobby the governor and state legislature for a more equitable school aid formula,”. Similarly, “There is strength in numbers for this type of work and Albany is more inclined to listen to our parents and other community members than school officials.”

(Google)

         As for now we are left in the dust. We have no where to go from here says Brady. School will have to come out with budgets soon and it will be interesting to see what they cut this year.“There will have to be some kind of general change in the way education is handled in the county,” Says Roycroft.