HARRISBURG – State Sen. John N. Wozniak announced the second part of a legislative package designed to increase efficiency, reduce costs and streamline administration in school districts throughout Pennsylvania.
Wozniak’s bill, introduced last session as Senate Bill 1321, would centralize school administration functions under a single school superintendent in each of Pennsylvania’s second through fourth class counties.
“It has been entirely too long since Pennsylvania has taken a serious look at improving efficiency and streamlining our educational system,” Wozniak said. “By consolidating the administrative functions of each school district by county, we will not only be able to reduce redundancy but also become more cost effective.”
Under Wozniak’s bill, county officials would appoint a single school superintendent for their counties, along with other administrators to provide consolidated services for local school districts. Consolidated administrative functions could include legal services, payroll, accounting, purchasing and contracting. Each school district would pay a share of the administrative expenses based on its number of students.
The bill would exclude school districts in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
“We cannot pass up this opportunity to potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars without changing our education structure but only by consolidating financial services and high-salary upper management positions,” Wozniak added. “This proposal is only a starting point and I look forward to input from my colleagues to make sure that we do what is in the best interest of our students.”
On Friday, Wozniak announced a bill that would encourage the discussion of school district consolidation among neighboring, low-enrollment schools
