SOUTH OTSELIC – The Otselic Valley Board of Education met with between 50 and 60 parents, faculty and residents Wednesday evening to hear a special committee report on a possible merger of the Georgetown Elementary School and the Junior/Senior High School.

Prompted by Governor David Paterson’s proposed $328,389 in cuts for the Otselic Valley School District, a 5.89 percent decrease in projected state aid for the 2010-2011 school year, President of the Board David Cruikshank charged an administrative team consisting of Interim Superintendent Linda Taylor, Junior/Senior Principal Scott Poreda, Elementary Principal Nancy Gallaher and 13 other faculty and staff members, with determining the feasibility of a merger.

Administrative officials stated that the priority of the committee was to examine if such a merger is physically possible, as it concerns educational programming, enrollment, scheduling and potential financial savings.

Other issues not addressed by the committee, due to time restraints, included student performance on state assessments, community and parental sentiment and the impact on the Georgetown community.

Cruikshank noted that it was important for those in attendance, and the community as a whole, to remember that at present, “nothing is set in stone” and that “this is only one set of ideas.”

Besides the opportunity for more cross-age tutoring, the committee reported that the only other advantages to the proposed consolidation would be financial, including the reduction of one full-time administrative position, cost savings associated with personnel reductions and savings on fuel and electricity of approximately $66,350.