MONTICELLO - Ad hoc committees from Juda, Albany and Monticello school districts are looking at enhancing course offerings, particularly in upper level classes, by sharing non-instructional staff and developing common calendars.
Representatives from the three schools met Tuesday to discuss increasing collaboration to share resources and expand opportunities for students.
Each school's committee will now go to their school board to get a motion to proceed.
Karen Ballin, district administrator for Monticello school district, believes inter-school sharing is a good idea, and doesn't think school boards will halt the process of finding ways to cooperate.
The idea is to share, not merge. None of the schools is interested in consolidating, Ballin said.
The districts "want to maintain their school identities, but we think we can find a better way of doing things if we put our heads together," she said.
Board members and administrators are interested in pursuing an arrangement, termed an "Academic Cooperative," that would build on common strengths and make more efficient use of limited resources as the state budget squeeze tightens in the years ahead, Ballin said.
The initial ad hoc committee meeting was intended to look at the big picture and get a vision for the future, Ballin said.
Sharing non-instructional staff and developing common calendars will require some long-range planning.
"The schools already have our 2010-2011 calendars set, so we would be working to develop 2011-2012 calendars," she said. Coordinating school calendars would be required in order to synchronize many things, including days off, mentoring and in-service days.
But some specific sharing is already in the plans, such as Monticello sharing its special education director with Juda, which doesn't have one.
Each of the three boards will review the outcomes of Tuesday's meeting and determine their level of commitment to the idea of sharing resources and personnel before additional planning proceeds.
Representatives from the three schools met Tuesday to discuss increasing collaboration to share resources and expand opportunities for students.
Each school's committee will now go to their school board to get a motion to proceed.
Karen Ballin, district administrator for Monticello school district, believes inter-school sharing is a good idea, and doesn't think school boards will halt the process of finding ways to cooperate.
The idea is to share, not merge. None of the schools is interested in consolidating, Ballin said.
The districts "want to maintain their school identities, but we think we can find a better way of doing things if we put our heads together," she said.
Board members and administrators are interested in pursuing an arrangement, termed an "Academic Cooperative," that would build on common strengths and make more efficient use of limited resources as the state budget squeeze tightens in the years ahead, Ballin said.
The initial ad hoc committee meeting was intended to look at the big picture and get a vision for the future, Ballin said.
Sharing non-instructional staff and developing common calendars will require some long-range planning.
"The schools already have our 2010-2011 calendars set, so we would be working to develop 2011-2012 calendars," she said. Coordinating school calendars would be required in order to synchronize many things, including days off, mentoring and in-service days.
But some specific sharing is already in the plans, such as Monticello sharing its special education director with Juda, which doesn't have one.
Each of the three boards will review the outcomes of Tuesday's meeting and determine their level of commitment to the idea of sharing resources and personnel before additional planning proceeds.