The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

March 14, 2008

Using Common Cents

7 districts take advantage of state initiative

By Courtney Anderson

MERCER COUNTY — Mercer County school districts have the highest rate of participation in Pennsylvania’s Common Cents Initiative.

Commodore Perry, Farrell, Hermitage, Jamestown, Sharon, Sharpsville and West Middlesex are among the districts that will get a free look at possible ways to improve efficiency.

“Again, it’s common sense,” Sharon school board President Melvin Bandzak said.

Officials this week announced that 39 districts in 13 counties were chosen for the program, which provides $1 million for consultants to study school operations and recommend ways to save money through sharing services with neighboring districts. It’s up to the individual school boards to decide whether to implement those suggestions.

Any resulting savings must be spent on academics according to the law, which was introduced by state Rep. Mark Longietti of Farrell, D-7th District. The freshman lawmaker said it’s the first piece of legislation he introduced that has come to fruition.

“As dollars continue to become tighter and tighter we need to check every possibility that exists,” Sharpsville Superintendent Mark Ferrara said. “This is a wonderful way to do it. We’re really excited to be a part of it and see no drawbacks at all. We’ve embraced it from the start.”

Longietti said he was “very pleased” with the number of Mercer County schools — seven out of 12 — that applied for the program and noted that Midwestern Intermediate IV in Grove City, which serves Mercer, Lawrence and Butler counties, has the highest number of districts participating. Mohawk and New Castle in Lawrence and Butler school district were also chosen.

School districts in every county that touches the Ohio border were chosen for the program, as well as nine in Allegheny County and a total of nine in Bradford, Lycoming and Lebanon counties in eastern Pennsylvania.

The intermediate units applied for the program on behalf of interested member schools and Farrell and Hermitage did not get on board until after the Nov. 15 deadline, local intermediate unit Executive Director Cecelia Yauger said.

Hermitage Superintendent Karen Ionta said the school board had decided to join the recently formed Mercer County School Directors Association, which also has a goal of sharing services and ideas, and thought that could be in lieu of signing up for the state program. But once members realized other area schools were trying for the state funds they “didn’t want to miss out.”

Mrs. Yauger said they should hear from the state soon to discuss the next steps in the program.

“If it ends up being a benefit to our districts and regional area, we’ll be very happy,” Mrs. Yauger said, adding that the unit has been offering services to area schools through things like joint purchasing and special education since its inception.

The Department of Education selected Deloitte Consulting and Pittsburgh-based Lyceum Group LLC to work with the districts.

They will assess 11 different areas, including transportation, food services, instruction, safety, health services, purchasing, finance and payroll, facilities and real estate, human resources, technology and administration.

“It’ll be interesting to see what the consultant comes up with,” Bandzak said.

Longietti said he thought the department was hopeful that there would be a second phase of the initiative but “budgets are always tight.”

“It’s important to participate when money’s available,” he said.

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