Postpone Vote for Northmont School Board regarding Phillipsburg and Union School Merger

The Northmont City School Board is proposing to merge Phillipsburg Elementary and Union Elementary effective August 2009.

The merger was proposed to the School Board by the Superintendent, Doug Lantz, on Monday, January 12th, with an intended voting date by the Board of Monday, January 26th. The proposed merger would save a projected $510,550 or a little less than 1% of the Districts Annual $52m Budget. A move that would displace approximately 200 students.

The merger of these two schools would overcrowd yet another of our k-6 schools with no plans to remedy the situation. This move negatively impacts our childrens safety with longer bus rides and hinders their educational opportunities by moving into an overcrowded environment.

This merger may require the addition of trailers/modules to the Union facility to accomodate the number of children at that location again jeopardizing their safety and educational opportunities.

These two schools are not at capacity at this time, by merging them we are creating an overcrowded school district with no room for growth. We feel it is not beneficial to make the proposed change in our district at this time.