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Orrville and Rittman put education first
Published on Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008
Jon Ritchie, the Orrville superintendent, will assume some additional duties this week. Actually, quite a few. In what is thought to be a unique arrangement in Ohio, he also will become the superintendent for Rittman schools. The two districts in Wayne County, which already share a treasurer, will otherwise remain separate. Salaries for the top administrators, which will not increase, eventually will be split according to enrollment.
The combined first-year savings from the administrative consolidation? Ritchie calculated it could reach $200,000. ''We're just trying to streamline services so we can save some money and give additional services to the kids,'' he explained, cautioning the move might not be ''a model for everybody.''
Except for the largest urban districts in the state, the question should be: Why not?
To be sure, the state's school funding system needs repair, its overreliance on local property taxes a burden to many homeowners and a continuing source of unequal educational opportunities. Still, the Orrville-Rittman pact deserves close attention. An overhaul of school funding certainly will involve more state funds, necessary to shift the property tax burden. But it also could involve other changes, especially steps to achieve administrative savings.
Among Ohio's 614 school districts, there are examples of cooperation such as shared purchasing, joint teacher training and jointly provided services. A few districts even share a treasurer. But getting much beyond that has been very difficult politically. With that in mind, Orrville and Rittman have been careful to emphasize they are not merging.
Yet Ohio, with the sixth highest number of school districts in the nation, ranks relatively low in the average number of pupils per district. At around 3,000, the number puts Ohio 29th. Enrollment in some districts is smaller than an Akron high school.
Rittman and Orrville schools, faced with difficult finances, have taken a realistic step toward administrative savings. They should continue to work together, and other districts across the state would do well to take note. In the end, as Jon Ritchie noted, the important thing isn't having your own superintendent. It's about providing children the educational opportunities they need to compete.
Jon Ritchie, the Orrville superintendent, will assume some additional duties this week. Actually, quite a few. In what is thought to be a unique arrangement in Ohio, he also will become the superintendent for Rittman schools. The two districts in Wayne County, which already share a treasurer, will otherwise remain separate. Salaries for the top administrators, which will not increase, eventually will be split according to enrollment.
Get the full article here.
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