LAKE COUNTY – The Lake County Board of Education has formed a task force to explore the feasibility of school district consolidation, in response to a resolution passed earlier this month by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.

Lake County Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck said the board of education established the feasibility task force on Feb. 11.

The resolution states notes, “the question has been raised whether it would be of benefit to our children and all of our citizens if any of the seven schools districts in Lake County were unified with one or more existing districts, thereby ostensibly reducing certain administrative costs and freeing those monies for other educational purposes.”

The document goes on to state that, thus far, “there is little information to indicate whether such a proposal is feasible, both as to cost savings and as to the effect on existing schools programs, and it therefore appears premature to initiate a process for unification until more information is obtained ...”

The feasibility task force will be charged with collecting the information that will help the Lake County Board of Education determine whether the school district consolidation proposal has the potential to create the cost savings that will result in improved educational programs for our students.

The membership on the task force will be broad based, with each of the five county board members appointing a person from their district and the county superintendent appointing an additional three to five persons as at-large members of the task force. Task force members will need to be unbiased and objective as they review the information collected.

At team of distinguished citizens will facilitate the collection of information for the task force. Dr. William Cornelison, retired county superintendent of schools; Tricia Mohl, retired Lake County Office of Education business manager; Wally Holbrook, former superintendent for the Kelseyville Unified School District; and Cameron Reeves, retired county counsel, have agreed to facilitate the work of the Task Force, Geck said.

Geck indicated that once all the members of the task force are seated the task force will meet to establish their work plan and begin the process of data collection.

The task force will review the history of previous reorganization efforts in Lake County. They will also examine the operations of comparison districts of similar geographic size, population density and demographics.

The fiscal analysis of any reorganization proposal will be high priority with data relating to both cost savings and the impact on revenues being closely examined.

The process of collecting information will provide opportunities for input from the community, Geck said.

For information about membership on the task force, contact the Lake County Office of Education, 262-4100.

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