Divided district opposed Superintendent wants Great Meadows Regional to stay intact. Thursday, February 01, 2007 • BY LYNN OLANOFF • The Express-Times Warren County schools Superintendent William King has come out against a plan that would dissolve the Great Meadows Regional School District. The Liberty Township Committee will decide tonight whether to continue its fight to splinter the district from Independence Township. The state Department of Education decides independently from King, but his decision and the state's recent push for school district consolidation are major strikes against the dissolution, Independence and Great Meadows officials said. "At this point, I think it's a dead issue," Independence Mayor Bob Giordano said. "With the push on to merge services and merge school districts, I doubt very much if the state will even consider this." King also said in a Jan. 8 letter to Liberty Mayor John Inscho that the state's direction is to reduce the number of school districts, not increase them as Liberty is proposing. King's other arguments against the dissolution include the strong support for the regional district when it was formed in 1993 and the likely short-lived financial advantages for Liberty. An addition -- estimated to cost $5.3 million -- would have to be added to the Liberty School to accommodate the township's middle school students who attend the regional middle school. Liberty still owes $2.6 million on the regional middle school's construction. "I do not see the financial nor educational advantage of this proposal," King wrote. He did not return a call for further comment Wednesday. A study commissioned by the Liberty Township Committee showed the township would receive $1.5 million more in annual state school aid if it had its own district. Liberty officials also are displeased their township residents pay more per pupil in the regional district than Independence residents. About one-third of the district's 1,450 pupils come from Liberty but township residents pay 37 percent of the budget. Independence residents, who make up about two-thirds of the district, pay 63 percent of the budget. Liberty Deputy Mayor John Fisher said Wednesday he supports petitioning the state to consider the dissolution but couldn't speak for the rest of the committee. Inscho did not return a call for comment. Giordano said Independence officials would be willing to meet with their Liberty counterparts to discuss possible changes to the tax apportionment. Independence officials want to maintain the regional district. The Great Meadows School Board had formed a committee to discuss Liberty's complaints with the district, but it was dissolved when the Liberty Township officials quit their membership a couple of months ago, board President Bob Jones said. He urged the Liberty officials to find out what their residents want before proceeding to the state. "At this point, to go beyond (the county), without some sort of straw poll of their constituents to see what they want to do -- that's not what you're elected for," Jones said. Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at lolanoff@express-times.com. © 2006 The Express-Times. Used by NJ.com with permission.