NORMAL - Every time there's an election or referendum concerning money and education in the Twin Cities, people question whether a merger between the two school districts is a good idea. | Local voter's guide

In recent months, at multiple informational meetings about Unit 5's $96.7 million construction referendum, at least one person has asked a question related to merging with Bloomington's District 87.

Would a merger save money by requiring less staff? Would it help with Unit 5's overcrowding? Would it improve educational opportunities for students?

District 87 Superintendent Bob Nielsen said before anybody can definitively answer those questions - or argue for or against merger - a thorough and fair study of benefits and costs is needed.

"All facts should be known" because a merger would have so many implications for both districts - and the community as a whole, Nielsen said.

"We'd need to do a fairly large study to see if there are any (cost) savings," Unit 5 Superintendent Gary Niehaus agreed.

The only time voters in both districts cast ballots on a merger was in 1996. Unit 5 actively opposed the idea, and district residents rejected the proposal by an almost 3-to-1 margin. District 87 voters favored it by about 2 to 1. The proposal failed by a vote of 13,561 to 9,784.

Back then, the concern was District 87's financial future because it is landlocked inside Unit 5 and has a limited tax base. The same is true today, but the district has a balanced budget and is in the midst of a $22 million, multiyear project to update its own school buildings - without asking for a tax hike from voters.

Unit 5's growth has outpaced all predictions. Voters passed a referendum for new construction in 2000, but schools overflowed again. Tuesday's referendum is designed to address the latest growth spurt.

Merger is how Unit 5 originally was formed - 60 years ago when several area districts (with 39 grade schools and three high schools) joined to become one district with 13 grade schools and one high school. The other schools, mostly one-room schoolhouses, closed.

Today, Unit 5 teaches almost 12,500 students in 15 elementary schools, three junior high schools and two high schools.

District 87 has an early education school, six elementary schools, a junior high and a high school. Enrollment is 5,360.

For a Unit 5-District 87 merger to be viable, there would have to be an educational advantage and/or a financial benefit, Unit 5 school board member Scott Lay said.

"There's not a compelling reason to believe it (one district) would be educationally better," Lay said, adding that after studying the financial implications, he can't see a fiscal advantage, either.

Neither can Jim Gillmeister, Unit 5's chief financial officer/treasurer.

"Strictly from the financial point of view, I don't see it as an advantage for either Unit 5 or District 87," said Gillmeister, who has examined the cost savings and expenditures of a possible merger. A merger would "definitely not" save money, he said.

Staffing

Niehaus said merging two school districts is different from business mergers where a large number of positions are cut, thus saving money. With school districts, he said, there would still need to be enough teachers, principals and support staff to educate more than 18,000 students in a combined district.

Wages and benefits make up about 75 percent of a school district's expense, so that cost wouldn't go down significantly. In fact, it could go up, Gillmeister said.

He estimated a combined district would pay about $3.5 million more in salaries and benefits for teachers, including $1.1 million more for a more comprehensive health and benefits package currently in place for District 87 teachers.

That wouldn't be offset by trimming administrators, he added. While one superintendent could be eliminated, saving about $175,000, the leader of a larger district would demand a higher salary. A business manager and other assistant superintendents could be eliminated, but a larger district would likely require more assistants.

Currently, all of Unit 5's central office administrators' wages total about $776,000. At best, only half of that could be saved, Gillmeister estimated.

Also, officials think District 87 taxpayers would likely pay more if the two districts merged. Continued growth would demand more building projects, which would require all taxpayers in a new district sharing any new construction debt. If that happened, current Unit 5 taxpayers might see their tax bills go down a little, while District 87's might go up.

Space

A combined district wouldn't solve space problems either, officials said.

Niehaus said it is clear that with Unit 5 growing by 300 to 500 students a year, District 87 wouldn't be able to provide enough empty seats if it was part of a larger district.

"It's not a long-term solution," he said.

District 87's enrollment figures released in January showed enrollment has declined about 500 students over the last decade, to about 5,360.

However, 500 is fewer students than what one new elementary school would hold under Unit 5's proposed $96.7 million construction project. Portable classrooms are part of Unit 5's strategy to fill the gap until the new schools are ready in 2010 and 2011.

What's next?

Merger talk can be expected to continue resurfacing from time to time.

It popped up in 2000, the last time Unit 5 had a referendum for a massive building project. People wondered if District 87 schools could accommodate students in overcrowded Unit 5 schools. At that time, Nielsen said Bloomington schools couldn't absorb hundreds of new students.

"We are using our buildings, in my way of thinking, to capacity," he said.

Since then, District 87 has added space, including classrooms and a gym at Bloomington Junior High School to address a specific area where overcrowding existed.

In 2006, a Unit 5 Citizens Advisory Council committee studying change examined merger.

"It is the belief of this group that a merger is not needed or recommended at this time, but the topic should be periodically evaluated in order to ascertain the current status and future of growth of the unit," the report said.

Carl Teichman, co-chairman for the Citizens for Unit 5 referendum committee, which is campaigning for passage of the proposals on Tuesday, said a potential merger doesn't have anything to do with the current referendum campaign.

"It isn't the answer" to the current growth crunch in Unit 5, he said, but agreed with others that "it may be something to talk about down the road."

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District 87 and Unit 5: A brief history

1857: Bloomington's District 87 forms with the help of its lawyer, Abraham Lincoln.

1948: Several districts that included 39 grade schools and three high schools consolidate to form Normal-based Unit 5. The new school district opens with 1,911 students at 13 schools.

1954: Unit 5 annexes part of south Bloomington where Brigham School now sits. The move encircles District 87, laying the foundation for future "range wars" between the school systems.

1967: New state law changes annexation rules. Before the change, any property annexed by the city of Bloomington was transferred to District 87.

1974: With 6,722 students, Unit 5 enrollment surpasses District 87's for the first time.

1996: Voters reject a merger between District 87 and Unit 5; District 87 voters approve the plan, but Unit 5 soundly defeats the referendum. Because both sides must agree for a merger to take place, the proposal fails.

2005: Unit 5 and District 87 school boards hold a joint meeting to see how they could cooperate - the first one in recent memory.

2006: Unit 5 and District 87 join forces on the Achievement Gap Task Force and work with the community in an effort to close the gap of student achievement between low income and minority children compared to other students.

2007: District 87 celebrates its 150th birthday. The two districts work together in using a combined data center site.

2008: Unit 5 puts forth a $96.7 million construction referendum to address its growing enrollment. On July 1, the school district will celebrate its 60th birthday.