Hartford schools discuss combining with Hackett

The Hartford School District remained the below state-mandated enrollment of at least 350 students throughout the 2013-14 school year, meaning the district must consider merging with another district.

Hartford Superintendent Teresa Ragsdale said she remains hopeful that the district's 325-student enrollment will swing back up for the 2014-15 school year, but if it does not, she is in discussions with nearby Hackett School District for a possible annexation, she said.

Since 2004, state law has required districts to merge -- either voluntarily or under the direction of the state Board of Education -- when average enrollment falls below 350 students for two consecutive years.

Hartford has seen its enrollment in the past seven years rise as high as 399 students in the 2011-12 school year. But that number fell to 356 in 2012-13 and then to 325 this school year.

Hartford Mayor Bob Rosso, 79, attended school in Hartford in the early 1940s and remembers Hartford merging with the former Midland School District when he was a student.

"The people have never gotten over that," he said.

Hartford was once a boom town because of coal mining and had one of the state's first lighted football fields, he said. Nobody wants to see the district be annexed, but he understands if the district must take that step, he said.

Leaders from the two districts have had meetings, including one recently between Ragsdale and Hackett Superintendent Bill Pittman to discuss a possible timeline, Ragsdale said. The superintendents plan to update their school boards at their respective meetings June 9.

Pittman and the Hackett School Board are aware of Hartford's situation, Pittman said. Hackett enrolls about 620 students.

"They're going to have to wait and see what their numbers are next fall," Pittman said. "We're traditionally two districts about the same size, the same type of districts. We have a lot of similarities."

If the districts decided to merge, Pittman said he would intend for the schools in Hartford to remain open.

"That would be our hope that both campuses could stay as they are for the foreseeable future," Pittman said.

If the school boards decide to pursue an annexation, Ragsdale plans to discuss the idea with the the community in August.

If the districts decide on merging, the proposal would require approval from the state Board of Education.

Metro on 05/26/2014

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