By JIMMY LAWTON

Potsdam and Canton school districts’ residents have shot down a proposal to merge, and local school officials are hopeful that rejection will be heard in Albany.

Following a $75,000 study that spanned several months, voters from both districts decisively voted down a proposal to merge two of St. Lawrence County’s largest school districts.

Those who voted on the merger proposal were also asked to answer survey questions and Potsdam Superintendent Patrick Brady said the large number of people who shared their viewpoints encouraged him.

Between the two schools, voters filled out more than 1,500 surveys with the vast majority expressing “disdain” for a school merger.

Brady said many of the responses focused on continued advocacy of support for rural school districts and while this isn’t a new idea, he said the voice of the public speaks louder than that of school officials.

“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,” Brady said in an emailed response. “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.”

The merger study was initiated due to financial struggles at both districts that stemmed from ever-growing annual costs and massive cuts to state aid due to the Gap Elimination Adjustment. The GEA was enacted in 2010-2011 to close a $10 billion gap in the state budget. Since it was enacted the state has divided the shortfall among all school districts by reducing their share in state aid.

Since then, many St. Lawrence County School districts have struggled to make ends meet. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has blamed the financial problems on what he says is a lack of efficiency in public schools.

To improve efficiency the state offers schools a $35 million reward for merging and is willing to cough up $75,000 for a merger study, but has yet to restore aid to the 2009-2010 levels, according to Canton School Board President Vic Rycroft.

He said state representatives have failed to secure adequate funding for struggling school districts. And when asked if he felt like the state was forcing schools into mergers?

“It certainly feels that way,” he said.

Brady said many survey responses also suggested merging with smaller districts, but he said it just doesn’t make sense for smaller schools to absorb costs of larger districts.

“The survey information largely indicated the public disdain for a merger between the two schools though several comments supported mergers with smaller districts,” he said. “This is not an option, at least in the near future, as there is a lack of demonstrated interest in the small schools to merge and their financial condition is not the same due to the level of aid reduction by the GEA and/or property wealth in these districts.”

Brady said that a small community is not likely to give up their local school and pay higher taxes.

“It is a nonstarter,” he said.

Rycroft said what happens next is hard to determine. He said the districts will have to prepare budgets, but said he can’t give insight into potential cuts until the state aid projections are released.

“We really just don’t know right now,” he said. “There is just no way to project where we are going to go right now. We are going to look at the survey results and wait for the release of the governor’s proposal and go from there.”

Regardless of what happens Rycroft said that things can’t continue the way they are,

“There will have to be some kind of general change in the way education is handled in the county,” he said.

Rycroft said one potential option could be regional high schools, but no legislation allowing that option currently exists.

“There is no mechanism to make that happen. I don’t know what the answer is. There could be six avenues to go down. We just have to wait and see and do the best we can” he said.