Mythbuster: Merger rumors swirl around district once again
Story by Melinda McCorkle
October 20 , 2011
Leechburg is a small town with big mysteries. As rumors flow through the hallways of Leechburg Area High School, they soon turn into myths. By definition, a myth is a belief or legend accepted as history. Leechburg’s myths, however, are a bit different from the traditional, from ghosts roaming the stairways to a rifle range in the maintenance department area to a swimming pool underneath the gymnasium. After hearing these rumors over and over again, it becomes difficult to separate the facts from the fiction. The Mythbusters’ goal is to discover the truth, one rumor at a time.
This column's myth is a rumor that's been floating around the halls of Leechburg yet again – the possibility of the district’s merging with another nearby school district. This time, however, the rumor may have some teeth since the state has cut education funding, Leechburg has lost industries that provided a healthier tax base and enrollment in the district has dropped to new lows.
Will Leechburg merge with another school district any time soon? Is Leechburg Area closing? To get the answers and bust this myth, I decided to talk to Superintendent Dr. James Budzilek.
"It's a lot easier said than done," Budzilek said. “Merging isn't as easy as it seems – two schools don't just decide one day that they want to combine. A lot of things need to be taken into consideration before a school merges. First, there needs to be two school districts that are willing to merge. That alone can be a big challenge. If two schools don't agree and the state feels that it's necessary for the students' education to merge, then the Department of Education will step in and make the decision.”
A second challenge with merging is the space available for all the students. "For example,” Budzilek said, “think about if we would merge with another school like Kiski. How would they take care of our 800 students?"
Another issue is transportation. “There needs to be a way to bus the kids clear out on Schenley Road in Gilpin,” Budzilek said. “After all of these factors are taken into consideration, it takes about 4-5 years to actually put the plan into action. It takes a long time for both school boards to approve of a merge. If a school board says 'let's merge,' it might upset the community."
Some people might say that Leechburg's too small. Just merge. The school board, however, disagrees. "The school board does not want to merge – there's no need," Budzilek said. “As long as Leechburg can properly educate its students and prepare them for their futures, it will stay open.”
After talking to Budzilek, I discovered that this myth isn't new at all. Budzilek said that there was talk about merging back when he was in high school in 1979. Leechburg was rumored to merge with Kiski Area.
Everybody knows that Leechburg is a small school, but it's doing just fine on its own. Budzilek said that there are many things to fix at Leechburg, but there is no desire to merge.
So, there's your answer. Leechburg is not going to merge or close anytime soon, and who knows, we might even add a few more students to join the district within the next few years. Once again, this myth has been BUSTED.
Have a myth you want busted this coming school year? Contact the LBG Mythbusters at TrottyVeck2010@gmail.com
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