Facts about a new Monument: State funds don’t drive costs; there’s money in mergers
In its quest to rebuild Monument Mountain Regional High School, the committee charged with coming up with a plan has learned that foregoing state funds do not save money on labor and that creating a new school district could add a whopping 6 percentage points to the state’s share of the costs of a potential building project.
The driving force behind regional school consolidation is enrollments, which are dropping at an alarming pace. Berkshire County school districts saw enrollment losses of 22 percent between 2000 and 2015. The UMass Donahue Institutehas projected an additional decline of 11 percent between 2015 and 2025 with more enrollment losses projected over the following decade.
Read article: Facts about a new Monument: State funds don’t drive costs; there’s money in mergers
June 21, 2018
