CHEMUNG COUNTY, N.Y. -- Elmira Heights and Horseheads residents have spoken, and they want their schools to stay put. Elmira Heights voters rejected the merger 667-224. Horseheads voters rejected it 1,785-412.
"This vote was sort of an affirmation that the community of Horseheads [and] the community of Elmira Heights, love their school districts," said Horseheads district superintendent Dr. Thomas Douglas. "And we're going to try to make sure we proceed with that in mind, and really build our educational system off of that."
Many voters commented they wanted to keep small schools small, even if merging could have meant more program offerings.
"Schools do play an integral role in the vibrancy and identity of a community, and I think people feel that if the school goes away, then so too does the identity of the community," said Elmira Heights district superintendent Mary Beth Fiore.
But budget stressors like expensive health insurance and pension plans, which prompted this consolidation study in the first place, aren't going away. Whether or not cuts in staff and programming will happen depends a lot on state aid.
"It depends on whether we can fully eliminate the GEA that we have been suffering under for the last several years," explained Fiore.
The GEA, or Gap Elimination Adjustment, is a program that allows the state to withhold financial aid from school districts. The Heights school district has lost $7 million through the GEA.
"A lot is going to depend on what happens when we hear the governor's State of the State, when they come out with their proposed budget," added Fiore.
At that point, the districts will begin planning next school year's budget. And even though the merger was rejected, district officials say the high voter turnout signifies how much residents care about their community.