Twp. Committee: School District Consolidation Makes Sense

A fourth grade Mendham Borough student and an eighth grade Washington Township student could be part of the same school district, and save their parents plenty of money in property taxes.

At least that’s what the Washington Township Committee believes, and supports, according to its discussion at the Wednesday, March 16 work session.

Washington Township’s governing body introduced a resolution to urge the boards of education to investigate a consolidation of six school districts into one regional K-12 school district. Those boards include K-8 districts in Washington Township; Chester Borough; Chester Township; Mendham Borough; Mendham Township; and the West Morris Regional High School district, which already serves all five municipalities.

The resolution, to be passed at the Monday, March 21 regular meeting, said the following:

Be it resolved by the Township Committee of the Township of Washington that strongly encourages the municipalities of Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, and Washington Township to persuade their Board of Education to explore the possibility of consolidating into a K-12 Regional School District to provide enhanced educational and academic programs and faster, more efficient use of taxpayer dollars in educating students while reducing the tax obligation for all of our residents.

All five of the committee’s members strongly supported the resolution, and had their own thoughts to share on the topic.

“I’m glad to see it coming up as an issue,” said Committeeman Jim LiaBraaten. “New Jersey is unique in that it has so many school districts. The economics just aren’t there.”

LiaBraaten, a former school board member in his home state of Minnesota and with the Washington Township School district, used Maryland as an example of regional districts, saying that the state has 23 counties, and just 23 school districts, whereas New Jersey has more than 620 districts.

“It can improve education,” LiaBraaten said about regionalization. “There can be better course offerings. This is one of the most important things that can happen for property tax relief in New Jersey.”

With so many districts throughout the state, as mentioned by LiaBraaten, the six school districts involved would be at the cutting edge of regionalization if they were to move forward.

“I would rather be on the forefront of a consolidation movement,” said Committeeman Dave Kennedy, “rather than be dragged into it later on. I totally agree with it.”

The committee was sure to recognize that a consolidation could affect and be taken advantage of at the government level as well.

“We should also make it known that we support the consolidation of municipalities,” said Vice Mayor Jim Harmon. “It could certainly work on both levels. We need to acknowledge that as a municipality we are only encouraging the idea for the schools, and that we can’t take action on it. But doing this is much more important than trying to change the funding formula.”

The committee will approve the resolution on Monday, March 21 at its regular meeting and then send the letter to all six school districts involved.