Introduction to Shared Services
The issue of shared services, consolidation and regionalization has been on the forefront in the legislature for many years. Currently, several pieces of potential legislation have been introduced in the 2006-07 legislative session that seek to address these issues in a variety of ways, some providing incentives for districts and other mandating such actions.
In Monmouth County, school districts have implemented shared services in a variety of creative ways, including: academic services, agreements with respective townships, data processing, purchasing cooperatives, special education services and transportation services. The Bayshore Jointure Commission, one of only four such Jointures in the state, represents a culture of collaboration that is inherent to districts in the County.
In addition, in September, 2005, Commissioner William Librera requested that each County Office establish County Panels on Special Education. The goal of these county based review panels was to increase opportunities for students with disabilities to be successfully educated in general education buildings and classes, thus decreasing the current over reliance on out of district separate public and private placements.
This effort is targeted at addressing a critical issue as New Jersey, designated as the state with the highest percentage of students with disabilities in out of district separate placements. While the national percentage of separate placements is 2.9% New Jersey’s rate is 8.9% and we have made little progress over the years in reducing this percentage. New Jersey is at three times the national rate for separate placements for students in all disability categories, not just students with the most severe educational disabilities. As a result, many students continue to be segregated from their peers and do not have access to the general education curriculum that is necessary for students to reach challenging standards. These programs are also very expensive and it is imperative to create more cost effective programs to serve students with significant educational disabilities who have been placed in these high cost programs as a result of a lack of appropriate alternatives. It is clear that some students will continue to need separate placements; however, many more could receive an appropriate education if the supports and accommodations were available to meet their needs within their home or neighboring district.
One of the major areas of review recommended to the Panels was to identify low incidence programmatic needs that could be addressed on a regional basis where a district could serve students within their home districts students or from neighboring districts; as well as to identify the shared services that could be provided by a regional provider.
In Monmouth County, several innovative models of in-district programs have been developed and are available for use by all districts.
As a direct result of decreasing state aid and overarching concern for balancing efficiency and effectiveness in school programmatic and fiscal operations, many school districts have explored and engaged in a variety of shared activities. We are proud to present the many creative ways in which Monmouth County school districts have realized a decrease in duplicative services by establishing internal and external relationships. These proactive measures place our school districts ahead of many of the proposals being considered by the legislature.
This information will continue to be updated as other programs or services are further streamlined.
For more information, contact the office at 732-431-7816.
Major Shared Services Categories
ACADEMIC SERVICES – examples include sharing Technology Administrator, Substance Abuse Counselor, Music Teacher, Curriculum Writing, Professional Development Workshops, Assembly Programs and many others.
AGREEMENTS with TOWNSHIP – snow removal, garbage collection, paving, grass cutting, field maintenance, parking lot cleaning, sharing equipment, building custodial services, and recreation programs among others.
DATA PROCESSING – payroll, budget, student schedules, report cards.
MONMOUTH-OCEAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES COMMISSION – Services offered include transportation, Child Study Team, Right to Know Training, Radon Testing, Bids for natural gas and more.
PURCHASING COOPERATIVES – ACES (Alliance for Competitive Energy Services), ACT (Alliance for Competitive Telecommunications), SAIF (School Boards Insurance), WARRENNET (Internet Services), NJSBAIG (New Jersey School Boards Association Insurance Group), MOCSSIFF (Workers Compensation Pool)
SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES - Shared services of teachers, consultants, Child Study Team, Director, equipment.
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES - Jointure agreements between school districts, MOESC.
A SAMPLING OF
SHARED SERVICES INITIATIVES
UNDERWAY IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS THROUGHOUT
MONMOUTH COUNTY
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