Ayer, Shirley, and Lunenburg have always been close communities, sharing geographical borders, as well as sports teams and the economic boost of the former Fort Devens. And soon, that union may become even tighter with a proposed regionalized school district.
A tritown committee is investigating whether it would be feasible - economically or educationally - to unite two or three of the communities' K-12 schools.
The process is still very much in the preliminary stages, according to Milree Keeling, chairwoman of the nine-member School Regionalization Planning Board, which was formed in May. The committee is now in information-gathering mode, she said, comparing budgets, contracts, educational objectives, facilities, and enrollment in the three towns.
The regionalization talks started because the districts already share some students, Keeling said. As part of an agreement approved by the state Department of Education, Shirley pays tuition to Ayer and Lunenburg for its high school students to attend schools in either town. Lunenburg gets about $700,000 yearly from that deal; Ayer receives roughly $600,000.
The topic has previously been broached among the three towns, Keeling said, and with the tuition agreement up for negotiation last year, it came up again. "It's a worthy discussion to be having."
Other communities are having similar discussions, according to Jonathan Considine, a spokesman for the Department of Education. Petersham and Orange are looking into blending their K-6 schools; Berkley wants to partner with another district on the high school level; and Essex Agricultural and Technical High School in Danvers, North Shore Technical High School in Middleton, and the vocational program at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School are considering joining forces, he said.
The last regionalization occurred in 2000 with Manchester and Essex; statewide, there are 55 academic and 26 vocational unionized districts.
As an alternative to regionalization, the Department of Education suggests that districts consolidate superintendent office functions into one, which streamlines administration but keeps schools and budgets separate. There are 16 such unions in the state, representing 49 towns, Considine said. Overall, regionalization "involves a lot of study and negotiation on the part of all towns involved," he said.
Right now, that task for Ayer, Shirley, and Lunenburg requires gathering as much information on the three school districts as possible. The Marlborough-based New England School Development Council is assisting the regionalization board by compiling a comprehensive report based on enrollment projections, budgets, building capacity, and a tritown survey.
That survey, which was due in early December, received 78 responses, according to Donald Kennedy, the New England council's director of planning and management. The primary concerns expressed by residents centered on how much the process would cost and how it would benefit education, he said.
Enrollment, meanwhile, appears to be'fairly steady in the three towns, but may see some decline over the next decade. "We didn't see growth in any one of the three communities, given the current trends," Kennedy said.
From that, the New England council deduced that there would be enough seats for students in all three districts for at least 10 years. Should a union be finalized, then, the towns wouldn't immediately need a new building to fulfill capacity needs, Kennedy said.
But Keeling noted that, because studies are so preliminary, it is unclear where students would attend classes with a regionalized district - they could gather at one school or several. More information regarding that, as well as cost, will be available early next year, she said.
If the communities do opt to regionalize, they will have several hurdles before them. After getting approval from the Department of Education, they must draft a professional regional agreement, which also involves Town Meeting approval in all three communities. Following additional talks and drafting, the agreement must get final approval from the state and Town Meeting voters.
Keeling said the earliest the Town Meeting vote could take place is next fall.
Although she said it is too early to discuss pros and cons, she said regionalization could lower costs, most notably for personnel, transportation, and special needs programs. All three districts also face growing expenses for energy, transportation, and health insurance.
"The sustainability of small districts like ours has, to this point, been dependent on luck and very skillful management," she said.
By regionalizing, the schools could also offer more advanced placement courses and might also be able to field Division 1 sports teams.
George Frost, superintendent of the Ayer schools, shared those sentiments. Because Ayer High School is "just shy" of 400 students, it is been difficult to offer advanced placement courses because they would draw so few students. But with a regionalized high school enrolling between 1,000 to 1,200 students, that would be more feasible, he said.
As for potential drawbacks, he noted that bus rides would be longer - they are a short 20 minutes now in Ayer - and some teachers might have concerns about losing their jobs because of the consolidation.
Similarly, there is the lengthy process. Although regionalization is clearly doable, "it's a very large-scale task," he said.
Keeling agreed, and said there will be many "passionate conversations" as the process moves forward next year. "In the end, we have to sit down and have some really tough conversations with each other," she said.
Taryn Plumb can be reached at taryn.plumb@gmail.com.
