Berlin-Milan Schools seek to complete merger

When the Berlin and Milan school districts merged in 1968, they retained some distinctions in the form of separate elementary schools and a hyphenated name.Now Berlin-Milan Schools officials are proposing to complete that merger, creating an Edison Local Schools that would be more unified, educationally effective and cheaper to run than the existing district.Superintendent David Snook outlined the plan, which involves reconfiguring school buildings, at his State of the District address on Monday night. The school board has not approved the plan but supports it, he said.The idea has existed in one form or another for many years, Snook said."During times that are good or even iffy you wouldn't have a plan like this come to fruition," he said. "But now we're beyond even iffy."Several elections have now shown that residents are dissatisfied with the school district in spite of six straight years of "excellent" ratings from the state.In the meantime, voters have expressed the desire for the district to save money, maximize resources, offer smaller levies, give people something to vote for and seek some sacrifice from employees, Snook said.The reconfiguration would create an Edison Elementary in Milan for kindergarten through third grade and an Edison Intermediate School in Berlin Heights for grades four through eight. Each building would still house about the same number of students.School officials projected a net savings of $308,000 annually, equivalent to nearly 1.4 mills of property tax, Snook said.Most of the savings would come from reductions in personnel, which would result in larger classes.The district would save about $20,000 by obtaining "waiver days" for professional development. That would mean two to four fewer classroom days for students.Some of the savings would be offset by a return to two bus runs, which is expected to cost $94,000 more per year.School leaders talked up the plan as a way to improve educational effectiveness by providing teachers with more training, making it easier for them to collaborate and tailoring each building to its grade levels.Putting all students in the same elementary school will also equalize differences between communities and help ease tensions that linger from the merger, Snook said."As much as we try to standardize what we're doing at Berlin with what we're doing at Milan, there are different thrusts taken in each of those buildings," he said. "That certainly should not take place in our school system."After the event, parents in the audience reacted positively to the plan.Berlin Heights resident Steffani Jamison said she was "apprehensive" before coming to the event because her three children -- now in eighth grade, fifth grade and kindergarten -- would be in three different buildings next year."I felt reassured that it'll be a good, positive change for everyone," she said.Cork and Gretchen Moore said it's nice being able to send their first-grade daughter to Berlin Elementary just a few minutes from home, but he won't mind sending her to Milan."I think that the board's definitely given it some thought," Cork said. "It's obvious that they were trying to work in the district's best interest."When audience members submitted written questions, however, athletic director and high school assistant principal Cory Smith fielded one asking, "Are the changes another attempt to punish the voters?""I really hope that people don't take it that way," Smith said. "We're making these changes to save money, to increase the viability of our district, and to improve education. ... It makes sense educationally, and that I think is the biggest reason that this plan makes sense."