A feasibility for consolidation has the AC Central and Porta sports co-op hanging in limbo.
The Cass County Star Gazette reports that the AC Central School Board voted 4-3 this month to not renew the co-op agreement after the proposal was sent back to them by the Porta School Board.
The Porta Board voted 4-3 in favor of the proposal with the feasibility study for consolidation remaining in the agreement last month. Last month, the AC Central Board voted to keep the co-op only with the feasibility study proposal pulled out of the agreement.
The Star Gazette reports that this month’s AC Central Board meeting was well attended with a lot of public comment. The comment section hit on declining enrollment at AC Central, a failed consolidation effort between the two districts in 2012, as well as maximizing student opportunities.
At the heart of the issue appears to be debt service and a loss of local control by Ashland and Chandlerville residents. According to the Porta School Board’s meeting minutes in September, they consider the consolidation feasibility study a “fact-finding process” to explore all options when it comes to declining enrollments, challenges in finding qualified teachers, and the financial strain of maintaining diverse upper-level courses. Several of the Porta Board expressed the study as essential to both districts’ taxpayers and students to find alternatives to ensure that a high quality education along with sports are able to be provided for at a high quality.