MODOC – — Five school districts are interested in talking to Union School Corp. about consolidation.
In the letter to Union, one of those districts — Randolph Southern — said it "admired" the way Union has "performed for your community."
The other districts are Blue River Valley, Monroe Central, Nettle Creek and Randolph Central.
Union School Board President Todd Holaday noted the schools — and read that letter — during the regular board meeting Monday night. Union is taking a hard look at its future because of declining enrollment and decreased funding.
It was a much smaller crowd at this meeting compared to last week's special meeting, where reasons for looking at a possible consolidation were discussed.That meeting was standing room only (about 250 people) in the cafeteria. This time, there were about 50.
Holaday, offering some thoughts about why districts might want to partner with Union, said that "even though we don't have a lot of students, we do have a lot of assessed value." That could be why a lot of schools are interested, he added.
Before a discussion that included all board members, Holaday offered an update on where the district is regarding "reorganization."
Options, he said, included consolidation or a merger within counties (which could involve more than one school). Another option for reorganization, Holaday said, would be annexation, which he said typically involves a school releasing control to another school. "That's not ideal for a school that wants to maintain some control," he added.