UPDATE: The Vermont State Board of Education approved Fairfax and Fletcher’s regional education district proposal on Nov. 16, 2010.

Editor’s note: This story is by Susan Bush, a freelance reporter who lives in Pownal.

The State Board of Education is expected to decide next week whether to grant the first school district consolidation waiver under the new law, Act 153.

The Fairfax and Fletcher school districts, which are part of the Franklin West Supervisory Union, want to explore the idea of combining their separate town school boards to form a “regional education district.”

Click here for the State Board agenda for the Nov. 16 meeting.

Under Act 153, school districts that voluntarily merge receive tax breaks.

The law requires all supervisory unions to discuss whether they wish to consider consolidation by Dec. 1 and vote on whether to “perform a more comprehensive analysis of a potential merger” by Oct. 1, 2012.

Proponents of the regionalized districts say consolidation enables schools to cut costs and improve services through shared resources; detractors fear a loss of local control and access to school choice.

Supervisory unions are eligible to receive up to $20,000 from the state to finance studies that examine the impact of a regional education district.

Ned Kirsch, superintendent of Franklin West said the study won’t necessarily lead to the formation of a district.

“We’re seeking the waiver so that we can get the study funded,” he said. “I go back and forth on the pros and cons of this and I’m sure when we have a study group, these groups will know their towns and they’ll come up with [considerations] I’ve never thought of.”

The supervisory union is also seeking a waiver under Act 153. The law requires that the regional districts consist of at least four school districts and serve a population of at least 1,250 students.

The Franklin West proposal is for two districts with about 1,100 students. Another district in the supervisory union, the Georgia School District, is not interested in regional consolidation, Kirsch said. Georgia is one of 90 school choice communities in the state, he said.

“I think [residents of Fletcher and Fairfax] see the tax incentives as a good reason for a RED,” Kirsch said. “Most of the kids from Fletcher go to the [Bellows Free Academy Fairfax] high school. They’ve been in the same supervisory union. Georgia does not want it, they have school choice and if they join a [RED], they lose that.”

Board member Donald Collins, who is a past Franklin West superintendent along with state Department of Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca, said that he believes the waiver will be approved if the requested information is provided.

“The information they brought was good,” Collins said. “We wanted some more information. Personally, I didn’t see any deal breakers [within the waiver application].”

Collins said that board members want more details about Fletcher students who are “tuitioned,” or enrolled in public schools outside of the Fletcher district and more information about the benefits a R.E.D. would deliver.

An incremental property tax break that starts as a $.08 reduction per $100 of value of the homestead rate and concludes four years later with a $.02 reduction is included in the initiative as an incentive for consolidation. The tax break is effective beginning with the commencement of R.E.D. operation, usually at the July 1 start of a new fiscal year, said Mark Oettinger, the attorney for the Department of Education.

Additional incentives include state grants of up to $20,000 to cover costs of R.E.D. associated consulting fees, up to $130,000 in revenues to cover facilitation of regional education districts, and, in the event a R.E.D. leads to school closures, an obligation to return state aid for school construction is “forgiven,” according to documents about the initiative.

To qualify for any of the incentives offered, an RED must be operating by July 1 2017, or fiscal year 2018, according to information included in a multi-page document that describes regulations and offers details about the initiative.

Incentives are unlikely to sway those whose communities now offer school choice, said Kirsch and Collins.

“I support the RED, I think the concept is good,’ Collins said. “I’m not sure it was thoroughly thought out. If I was living in a town that was seeking a RED but would lose school choice, I’d vote against it.”

Kirsch said the he does not believe the RED initiative will gain widespread support statewide as long as school choice is lost to the regional district. Both agreed that allowing school choice in all communities might encourage consolidation.

“I think if the legislators take [Act 153] back and modify it, it will encourage a sharing and consolidation of services,” he said.

Winton Goodrich, the associated director of the Vermont School Boards Association, said that he prefers the term “merger” to “consolidation.” He emphasized the initiative’s voluntary approach and also stressed that schools boards would merge as part of a R.E.D. As long as control remains at the local level, Goodrich said he supports the legislation.

“Act 153 allows more control over student population,” he said “With one board, you have more flexibility. Another benefit is that unexpected expenses can be shared.”

The flexibility means, for instance, that school boards could create class size policies and shift enrollment, he said. Goodrich offered this example: If a town saw a jump in third grade enrollment that meant hiring another teacher, the board could opt to send those children elsewhere, to a smaller class in another school within the R.E.D. containing that town, thereby avoiding hiring a new teacher, Goodrich said.

Vermont Superintendents Association Executive Director Jeff Francis said the merger law has merit.

“Act 153 offers, in my view, a useful piece of legislation to guide change at the local level,” he said. “It’s early in the process. While we’re seeing indications of interest, it’s happening at different levels in different places. I do think that Act 153 provides a useful framework. What they really did was pass a law saying we have to have a conversation [about consolidation] and I don’t think there’s more behind it right now.”

Kirsch said that consolidation isn’t the only proverbial iron in the fire.

“The aspect of a virtual merger, sharing resources with other districts, that’s worth talking about,” he said. “I know there are tons of discussions going on out there.”

Kirsch noted that between the season’s thorny political climate, the controversy surrounding outgoing Gov. Jim Douglas’ desire to use $19 million in one-time federal education funds to shore up the state teachers retirement fund and Vilaseca’s contention that the money be directed to school districts to support school budgets, and issues involving the new Challenges for Change education cost-cutting mandate, most school administrators are mired in a high stakes version of guessing games and supposition.

“There are so many pieces to all this and it was all so quick,” he said. “Here, we’ve been talking about the budget since the first day of school. After Nov. 3 [the state election day] things may be clearer. I’m hoping so but it might be January before we know anything.”

“I do think that Vermont has an excellent education system,” he continued. “It’s expensive, we pay for it, but we have a good education system. I think we lose sight of that sometimes.”