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Pros and cons of Canton, Potsdam school merger

Posted 10/28/14

To the Editor: “The centralization of school districts in the State of New York is coming; the recently enacted law has settled that. The discussion is not now whether it is advisable that …

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Pros and cons of Canton, Potsdam school merger

Posted

To the Editor:

“The centralization of school districts in the State of New York is coming; the recently enacted law has settled that. The discussion is not now whether it is advisable that centralization be thought of. It must be thought of. In fact schools that have not already considered the matter…must do so, if they wish to have any hand in the doing, get busy…If they don’t take action, the State will complete the job and it may not be the job we would like.”

So warned John Finnegan (the longtime editor of Canton’s second newspaper, the Commercial Advertiser) on the front page of his August 11, 1942, edition. Fortunately, the public then supported merging local rural districts into one, and we have great schools today to show for it. But Mr. Finnegan’s admonition still resonates with me a lot, as I consider the crisis we face in Canton and Potsdam schools today.

I feel privileged to have been asked to serve on the Joint Advisory Committee to consider the possibilities of merging the Canton and Potsdam districts. I became aware of so much that I hadn’t known before—about finances, facilities, curriculum, co-curricular activities, and more. I wish more people could have had the same opportunities to learn. I also now feel responsible for speaking up about what I learned, in committee meetings and around town.

During the long process, I’ve heard all kinds of reasons for opposing a merger. Some are:

• School bus transportation is a hassle and with a merger it will only get worse.

• Taxes are already too high and you can’t tell me that they won’t get higher.

• With a merger, our communities will lose their individual identities and one (or the other) will surely be “the winner.”

• As longtime rivals, how will our athletes, coaches and alumni ever get along on the same teams?

• I really don’t trust “the State!” Either they don’t care anything about us up here, they ‘re only trying to bully us, or they always come through in the end.

Each of these reasons can seem legitimate and if people are fearful about any one of them, their vote on Oct. 30 can bring the possibility of a merger to a halt. Then we are in uncharted—and, I suspect, pretty rough--waters.

But, I hope we can have a little more time to look at the bigger picture and take the longer view.

In this same time period, I’ve never heard anyone say they oppose the merger for any of these reasons:

• There’ll be a better chance to stabilize both our schools’ finances for the foreseeable future.

• To give our students more advantages in seeking higher education or good employment, we can restore valued programs and courses that have been cut in recent years.

• We can have smaller classes and give more individual attention to students and their needs.

• Because of the many athletic teams in both schools with “merged” students from neighboring districts now in place, we’ve already learned how a combined athletic program can make our teams more competitive and create opportunities for more sports and more choices for students to participate.

• Our schools—now ranked by a business magazine as the top two performing school districts out of 33 in the Watertown region --will remain major factors for our job-creating employers—like our colleges, the hospital, and major businesses—to recruit and retain talented professionals and support staff, who pay significant local taxes and contribute to community causes in all kinds of ways.

Finally, and the reason I find most compelling, is the opportunity a merger gives us to make our own plans and control our own futures. As we can see from John Finnegan’s editorial in 1942, state education law was already affecting schools. Within a few years, the people of Canton and Potsdam—and of other St. Lawrence County communities—made wise decisions to centralize.

Like most of us in both communities, if I had my first choice, I’d like the schools to stay and prosper as they’ve been in the past. But I believe things are different now. If we don’t merge this time, I’m not confident that the State will increase or even continue the same levels of state aid that we’re used to and we’ll suffer the consequences. My own fear is, as Mr. Finnegan warned 72 years ago, if we don’t act now, we won’t like what we get later.

On October 30th, I will vote to support the merger and keep the conversations going so everyone has—and takes—the opportunity to learn as much as possible before it’s too late. I hope you will join me.

Varick Chittenden

Canton