RENVILLE -- The Renville County West and Yellow Medicine East school boards have tentative plans to meet Monday evening to discuss the possibility of shared services.
The RCW board discussed the meeting at a Feb. 27 workshop meeting.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday in the YME board room in Granite Falls.
Renville County West and other districts in and near Renville County are in the early stages of discussing ways to work together to improve the efficiency of their districts.
So far, the boards have not made formal decisions to share programs or staff members.
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"We're discussing a myriad of things," said RCW Superintendent Doug Conboy.
One possibility RCW has discussed is coordinating school calendars among several districts.
"We can't say we will all have the same schedule, because we all have a different number of student-contact days (for teachers)," he said.
"What we could do is we could coordinate in-service days. We are still discussing this concept between districts, but the benefits to me are very obvious."
By combining staff training days, the districts could pool resources and enhance training opportunities for staff members, Conboy said.
"The most important people to get on board is the staff," he said. So far, the RCW staff has had mixed reactions, but some of their concerns could be addressed, he added.
School boards are also discussing ways of sharing resources and support staff positions between districts, Conboy said.
In the Itasca County area, a group of school districts works together to offer courses to students in several districts. Those courses could be offered over the Internet or through interactive television, or in some cases, students could travel to the district offering the courses.
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"What if there were such a thing," he said. "It could allow everyone to retain their identities and not have to consolidate."
Conboy resigned his position in February and will be the new superintendent in Mora beginning July 1. However, he has said he believes the discussions will continue after he leaves, because the districts will need to find ways to economize.
