For two Dauphin County school districts, bigger isn't better

Education officials in Dauphin County explain why, after performing extensive research, they decided it was best not to join forces.

In the northwest corner of Dauphin County, two school districts sit, separated by a mountain and not much more.

With a combined student population of just more than 2,000, the Halifax and Millersburg Area school districts are the smallest two among Dauphin County's 10 public school districts.

They've thought about consolidating into one. And on the surface, it would seem to make sense.

Each faces declining enrollments. They've each lost roughly 100 students in the past six-year span.

Then there's the distance factor.

"We're right next door," Halifax Superintendent Robert Hassinger said. "It had been in the air for a lot of years (that) we ought to look at combining these schools."

So in 2007, the neighbors embarked upon their latest and most in-depth merger study, just as the Antietam and Exeter districts in Berks County have done in discussing a merger.

Initially, Halifax and Millersburg talked with a third district - the Upper Dauphin School District, which borders Millersburg to the east and Halifax to the north.

"But they bowed out pretty close to the beginning of it," Millersburg Superintendent Sheree-Lee S. Knorr said. "They felt that it wasn't going to benefit the district, so they stepped back."

Through a $50,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, Halifax and Millersburg proceeded with a feasibility study on the idea.

In the end, though, the results of that study would show that in the case of these two districts, bigger isn't always better.

"Our first impression was, we'll be able to do more for kids," Hassinger said of the idea to merge. "But when we really looked at it, the data said we're not really going to. And we're not going to save any money in this process either."

The findings of the study, presented during a December 2008 joint school board meeting at Halifax High School, showed some benefits to merging.

Losses hit home

A combined district could have offered more flexibility in scheduling the larger number of students.

More course offerings could have been made available in to high school students, such Millersburg's business program for Halifax students; additional Advanced Placement courses in social studies and science; and other electives, such as emergency preparedness training, or music theory.

Due to the increased student population, an additional one or two sports teams could have been fielded.

The losses, though, really struck a chord.

By merging into one district, the study found, more students would have competed for fewer positions on athletic teams, in plays and in musicals.

Additional teachers would have been needed to handle the increased student population.

And no longer would the local schools - each named for their borough - be the center of their communities.

It would have cost nearly $1 million to equalize academic programs between the two districts, and an additional $404,476 to equalize professional employee contracts by creating a single salary and benefits program.

A new district would have lost $637,000 in tax revenue through measures needed to equalize taxes among residents in separate jurisdictions.

Costs to bus students between the two districts would have increased.

With both districts owning aging buildings, it was determined it would have cost more to renovate buildings jointly than to do so as separate districts.

In a January 2009 statement on the possible merger, Hassinger wrote that consolidating the districts would cost taxpayers an additional $1.26 million.

"I think the largest contingency of the public was wanting to keep their own identity," he recalled of public reaction to the merger talks. "And our research in the end found that it actually wasn't what was best for the kids."

It was during that January 2009 meeting that the two districts came to an agreement: Going into the future, they'd work more closely to share services and resources as they could. But a merger was off.

Sharing more programs

Today, the districts share in some sports and some academics, but have retained their own identities. For the past decade, they've participated with Upper Dauphin in a special-education consortium that has saved millions, Knorr said.

"Millersburg has an elementary emotional support program," Hassinger explained. "If we have a need, we can send that student to Millersburg to receive those services at the district. Upper Dauphin has an autistic class. Millersburg has life skills. We have middle school and high school emotional support classes at Halifax. So we can share those resources and provide what's best for the kids."

In the past, Millersburg and Halifax have shared other courses, including sign language. Students participate in a combined Millersburg-Halifax wrestling team, as well as track and golf teams.

Much of the sharing has been done for years.

"We're always conferring with one another," Hassinger said. "Sheree-Lee is always a sounding board for me."

"We do talk about what else we can share," Knorr added. "And I think we'll always keep looking."

Knorr and Hassinger agreed that the merger talks, though failed, have affirmed that close relationship between the districts.

"Merging was not the right thing for us," Knorr said. "Not that it was a bad thing to go through. It just wasn't for us at that time."

Contact Becca Y. Gregg: 610-371-5032 or

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