SHERMAN — Sherman Central School District board of education responded with a resounding “no” to an offer from the Clymer Central School District board of education to explore the possibility of consolidation.

On March 4, the Sherman board received a letter from the Clymer school board through interim superintendent Karen Krause which relayed the results of a non-binding referendum held in the Clymer district in May of 2019. The letter states that 81% of the people who voted were in favor of shared services with Sherman and 71% “voted in favor of exploring the option to merge with a neighboring district.”

The letter went on to say that the referendum did not receive a majority vote regarding the possibility of annexation/redistricting and tuitioning.

The letter also proposed a joint meeting of the boards of education to explore consolidation. This meeting would include public comment “to get a collective understanding whether this would be an option Sherman would consider in the next year, 2-3 years, 5 plus years, or not at all.”

In its response, the members of the Sherman school board noted that, during a fall meeting of the Sherman and Clymer board presidents and vice-presidents, “Sherman made it clear that with the current unease in Clymer, due to your budget situation and the fact that Sherman is strong academically and financially, that consolidation is not an option Sherman Central School will consider at this time.”

Sherman also noted that, while Clymer has worked for the past two years to align its tax rates with those of neighboring districts, it has not yet achieved this alignment. “We see no benefit in gaining merger aid from New York State if it has to be used to offset a tax hike in the Clymer community.”

The letter went on to say that Sherman is sympathetic to Clymer’s financial situation. “However, we must protect the interests of Sherman students, families and tax payers. If annexation or tuitioning are something Clymer would consider, we can arrange a discussion. If not, we see no reason to meet at this time.”

When contacted about the letter, Sherman superintendent Michael Ginestre said that the district values its partnerships with Clymer. “But as far as consolidation, our board just doesn’t think that’s a possibility,” he said. “If they want to look at annexation or a tuitioning agreement, we would be open to that.”

Ginestre said that the Sherman board believes that it needed to make its response public to avoid misinformation. “They (Clymer school district) said they did form a committee on consolidation,” Ginestre said. “So, we knew from the newspaper that this was coming and we thought we would get our response out there.”

The Sherman letter also noted that a non-binding referendum only provides a “snapshot of a community at a particular moment in time.” However, it is the actual vote that is more important. The letter noted that, two years ago, the Clymer community “voted overwhelmingly, by nearly 80%, not to consolidate with Panama Central School.”

The Sherman letter stated that his fact indicates that the Clymer community is split on the subject of consolidation. “Unless both communities are completely aligned and excited about the prospect of consolidating, the very public and long process of merger is not worth harming the education of our children and dividing our community.”

The Sherman letter said at its beginning and end that Sherman values its partnership with Clymer and hopes to expand that relationship. “We value and appreciate our relationship of shared services and shared athletics. However, we do not appreciate being placed in the middle of your budget crisis in the media and at your board of education meetings.”