Last year, former Mingus Union High School District Governing Board President Andy Groseta proposed consolidation of MUHSD and Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District to his Governing Board. Since then, there has been an active discussion of consolidation from members of both districts.
While one group is collecting information to put the issue into the hands of voters, members of the MUHSD board have moved forward with collecting more data to understand the implications of consolidation.
COCSD board members requested Yavapai County School Superintendent Tim Carter to call an election for consolidation in December. Mingus still has not declared a position. On Thursday, Feb. 8, the board approved a contract with David Bolger to provide feasibility data in regards to consolidation between the two districts.
Bolger is president of Corporate Education Consulting Inc. He did a study in 2008. The data from the study is now a decade old and included consolidation with Clarkdale-Jerome while it was still part of the merger conversation. CJSD has opted out of consolidation this time around.
The limit for procurement of the study is $10,000.MUHSD Board President Anita Glazer said the purpose of the study is to understand what current data looks like with a two-district consolidation versus a tri-district consolidation.
The Advisory Committee for Consolidation met on Wednesday to continue consolidation talks at the Cottonwood Recreation Center. Meetings have been moved to various neutral locations to quell tensions.The idea behind the committee is to find the best solution for teachers and students said committee chairman Dan Mabery at the last meeting.
One of the more significant delays in coming up with an answer has been a lack of data, according to some on the Mingus side.“Cottonwood-Oak Creek people say [consolida-tion] is the right thing to do without the data,” said Glazer.
“That has been my biggest frustration.”Consolidation Committee member Joanne Cook, who is also a member of the COCSD governing board, said it’s about what the voters want.“Our position is to support what the community has brought to us and got to the voters,” she said
Kelcie Grega can be reached at 634-8551, or email kgrega@larsonnewspapers.com
