//Shared Superintendent
Shared Superintendent 2017-11-27T14:15:23+00:00

Project Description

Reports / Education

Shared Superintendent:
A new experiment in certain NYS school districts

2014 Shared School Superintendent cover (495x640) NEWBURGH, JUNE 11, 2014 – A Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress issue brief released today examines the implications of shared superintendencies that are now in place in a number of school districts in New York State.

“It’s a fairly new phenomenon, but an interesting one,” said Pattern for Progress Vice President for Research and Communications Barbara Gref. “We began our research on the topic because, while there are only a handful of shared superintendencies in New York State, there is one in the Hudson Valley in the small, rural Sullivan County school district of Roscoe.” The superintendent there is shared across county borders with the equally small district of Downsville in Delaware County.

“In short, our research at this initial phase shows that there are a number of potential benefits to be gained from small districts sharing their top administrator with a neighboring district,” said Gref. “The experiment highlights the idea of sharing in a prominent way in these districts. In this regard, it brings to light other ways of sharing services and personnel. This can lead to better educational opportunities and to some costs savings. There is an appetite among the public for greater efficiencies, especially as the costs of public education continue to climb and reserves shrink. We’ve made a number of recommendations as a result of this work. In short, we’d like to see more sharing at this level in the public school districts of New York state.”

It is well known that New York state carries the highest cost of public education in the nation when measured by per pupil spending. Figures released by the U.S. Census last month again put school spending in New York State at the top. New York State’s $19,552 per pupil cost is 84 percent above the U.S. average.

“It’s a cost that is very much on the minds on the people especially here in the Hudson Valley which is home to the highest property taxes in the nation, a tax that is driven by the cost of public schools,” said Gref. ” That cost affects everything from home ownership to economic development.” Pattern’s recently formed education advisory group has been exploring those and other impacts.