School District Consolidation Meeting Tonight

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story stated that Elwood's spokesperson said Northport had acknowledged receipt of the letter. Beth Izzo said today that she didn't specify which districts responded.

Faced with a challenging economy, rising retirement system contributions, and a host of other financial obligations, the broached the idea of consolidating the district with one or more neighboring school districts at its Dec. 2 workshop.

As a result, that board has sent letters to the boards of education and superintendents of the Northport-East Northport, Harborfields, Commack, South Huntington, and Half Hollow Hills districts to determine if there is any interest in holding meetings to explore the issues of possible consolidation.

Beth Izzo, a spokesperson for the Elwood school district said that several districts acknowledged receipt of the letter, but did not say which ones. Several Board of Education members have since told Northport Patch that they plan to attend.

The public is invited to a special consolidation workshop on Thursday, Jan. 6 in the auditorium at 7:30 p.m. to hear more on the subject.  Experts who have worked on the consolidation process in the past will be on hand to answer questions.  Information on the meeting can be found on the Elwood school district's home page.

The workshop comes at a key time. As part of its 2011-2012 state aid proposal, a Board of Regents committee approved the idea of a commission which would identify school districts that might benefit from consolidation. The complete proposal can be found on the New York State Education Department's website.