The Burrell School Board on Tuesday declined to meet with New Kensington-Arnold School Board to discuss whether the districts' futures might involve a merger.

New Kensington-Arnold board member Pat Petit in November asked his board to reach out to its neighbors for a discussion on the state of the school districts and what might be involved should they merge.

Burrell Superintendent Shannon Wagner said she received New Ken-Arnold's request last week. She brought it up for consideration at Tuesday's Burrell board meeting.

Several Burrell board members said they don't think the time is right.

“I think it's way too early to consider a merger,” said Vice President Ron Slater.

“I don't think we need to entertain a discussion (on a merger) now,” Tricia Shank said.

Considering the “fragile state” of school district finances, Deb Kinosz said the complexities of a merger might be more than the board can handle.

Burrell's board did not formally vote on New Kensington-Arnold's request, but none of the seven members present spoke in favor of meeting with the neighboring board. Board members Danielle Kowalkowski and Linda Woiewodski were absent.

Board President Tami Kelly asked Wagner to respond to New Kensington-Arnold, indicating Burrell is not interested in pursuing a discussion at this time.

Reached at home Tuesday evening, Petit said he was disappointed by Burrell's response.

“It's very disappointing to hear that's the road they have chosen, to be left out alone in the future,” Petit said.

As school districts struggle with financial challenges and the uncertainty of state funding, Petit said he suspects the state will force school districts to merge eventually.

He believes at least meeting with the neighboring district and preparing for the future will benefit both districts.

“Who knows how many years from now, or if (a merger) will ever happen, but the way the economy is going and the funding of schools ... the state — they're going to look at this whole thing,” Petit said. “You have two small school districts within two miles of each other?

“The state's not going to want to keep throwing money into two districts.”

With Burrell opting out of a meeting, Petit said he doesn't know what New Kensington-Arnold's next step will be as it considers its own financial future. He said he suspects his board will talk about it at their meeting this Thursday.

“I can't answer for (Burrell), I don't know why they would say no,” he said. “It's only a discussion.”

Liz Hayes is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4680 or lhayes@tribweb.com.

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