The Oysterponds School District Board of Education chose to opt in to the New York State Department of Education’s Regionalization Initiative, voting 4-3 vote in favor of the plan during its regular meeting Jan. 14.
Superintendent Justin Cobis spoke with The Suffolk Times about the decision to opt in when all other North Fork school districts opted out of the plan, deemed controversial by many.
“We regularly communicate on the North Fork and on the East End to at least already do some of these things,” Mr. Cobis said. “So regionalization, while it may be a new initiative to the state this year, Oysterponds, Greenport, Southold [and] Mattituck, we’ve kind of been in the spirit of this already for quite some time.”
Most recently, Oysterponds has shared its director of special education and a Spanish teacher with the Greenport School District.
“This is already happening. Whether or not we’re officially in the process with the state, we’re already participating at the local level in the same spirit” Mr. Cobis said.
Participation in the regionalization initiative will not have an impact on Oysterponds’ upcoming 2025-26 budget, according to Mr. Cobis.
The decision to opt into the initiative was made based on the belief that it would be beneficial for the district to be involved in conversations about regionalization moving forward, Mr. Cobis explained.
“Without being in the room, we may not be aware of potential opportunities to cooperate with other districts that aren’t as local, [such as schools] on the South Fork or other areas of eastern Suffolk County,” he said.
The district submitted its “Strengths and Needs Tool” to the state’s education department to determine the types of efforts and supports needed to improve student opportunities as well as district operational efficiencies.
The superintendent noted that taking part in the regionalization initiative will not impede the district’s ability to work with North Fork schools, but may present opportunities to collaborate with other area schools for transportation or curriculum-based resources that benefit the community.
“We know what this is not — this is not a consolidation effort; this is not a merger or any sort of reorganization. But there may be a potential outcome that benefits the taxpayers and the community members of Oysterponds,” Mr. Cobis said. “So for that reason, I think it allows for us to be in the discussion to see what ideas may be raised.”
Discussions with other eastern Suffolk County school districts that opted into the plan will take place with the supervision of Eastern Suffolk BOCES Superintendent Jasmin Varela later this winter or in early spring.