The merger of BW and Brentwood make sense. There are probably only 900 student in the Brentwood SD so adding that to BW would not be that great. Secondly, taxes should decrease in Brentwood for the shear fact Brentwood SD currently accesses homes at 28.27 mills and BW assess homes at 24.61 mills. Third the deduction in total building will save money on items such as utilities, maintenance, insurance and salaies to name a few.

But more importantly the combined school will be able to offer more course for the students to assist them in decide want they want to be when they grow up. Then again it will never happen in my lifetime because Allegheny County hates change! Also the fact that it is govt and they don't understand business!

Also mergers should take place in the Police, EMS and Fire Departments. Way too much duplicated equipment, especially in the Fire departments. I posted several months ago the amount of equipment these three boroughs actually have. It amazing!

The entire reason that I live in Brentwood is because of the SMALL school district. I have cousins that graduated from Baldwin Whitehall School District with a class of 1000+ students in one grade. Alot of people would be putting homes up for sale if that ever happened. Furthermore, wait until all of the construction wraps up over there. They are now talking about ripping up their entire stadium and redoing that. I forsee their taxes surpassing ours in the near future. How else will they continue to pay for everything. Be very careful what you wish for.

Let me start by saying Baldwin has not had a graduating class in excess of a thousand student since the 70's maybe early 80's. I graduated from Baldwin in 1994 with approximately 370 students in my class. During that time Baldwin averaged about 1400 students and I would say I knew 60% of the entire school and 90% of my class (I went to Catholic grade school through 8th grade). So I don't want to hear about being "just another number" at BW.

Secondly, Baldwin is not ripping up their entire stadium. They are considering replacing the natural grass field with Fieldturf. As part of the project they are going to replace the track which is worn out. The board is looking for other ways to finance the project such as donations from the boosters and other companies such as Addidas. The rest of the stadium will stay as is with some maintenance being performed. As for taxes, sure they will go up but so will Brentwood's because of rising costs.

I don't understand why people believe that small schools are better for students. Please enlighten me. The individual classroom sizes are similar in both districts. There are no classes with 100+ students at BW. The state and teacher contracts dictate how many studetns can be in one class. Thus I ask how does Brentwood SD better educate students than BW? I believe it is just a psychological thing.

Have you looked around Brentwood at all recently? Every other house is for sale NOW. Merging schools could help sell those houses, and possibly bring our property value up. I know my home in Brentwood is worth about 70,000 and in Baldwin the exact same house in a similar area is double that!! I know this because I have been checking house prices in the different areas out the South Hills for years!

I am glad that you set people in their place about small vs large schools and also dispelled the rumor of ripping the entire stadium down. I realize that Brentwood is a very proud community (ok used to be proud) and that is why they don't want to lose the local school, but face reality, with rising costs and more demands on education many schools are simply not going to be able to stay above water financially and soon mergers will be more common than tax increases.

By saying "former member of the Baldwin-Whitehall School Board" you mean "I couldn't get re-elected" ... right?
If you were not even smart enough or good enough to join the cast of clowns that sit on the board today, what makes you qualified to spout off advice. Please, the voters have spoken ...... now just go away.

Let's stay on topic and avoid the personal attacks. I have yet to see how the benefits of keeping Brentwood SD separate from BW outways the harms. Everything I can see leads to be better things for the students and taxpayers. Someone enlighten me as to the harms of merging the two school districts.

I figured that someone would name those two items so I say the savings generated from less maintenance on fewer buildings along with less insurance and utilities will offset any increase in in debt payments or transportation expenses. Not too mention the reduction in total number of employees will save the combined SD in wages and benefits.

The benefits out way harms in my mind in regards to the students. The possibility of more electives and an increase in AP courses further outway any cost increases. Furthermore the job of the SD is educate the student and use all possible resources to prepare them for college and /or the "real world".

You figure incorrectly. B-W's debt alone was well over $100M. You throw out a lot of generalizations that may or may not be true. For instance, less employees. You haven't looked at class size issues and contractual issues to make that determination. It sounds good but it may not be true. You would also have to pay more to the Brentwood teachers to get them to parity with their richly paid B-W counterparts. Many devils in the details.

What would we have to do to get this issue voted on again?

Catalyst you are correct in that there are many devils in the details that is why due diligience is needed. I do not have financial statements from either SD nor do I have the employee count. What I do know is that between the two school districts there are 2 superintendants and 9 buildings. I am willing to say that there are more duplication of services as well.

If you are saying that a thorough evaluation (study) needs to be performed then I agree with you. I can only speculate on things such as class size, how students can each building hold, how many teachers are needed, etc.

It is up to boards to put away their egos and work together and see if a merger would be beneficial to the student and the taxpayers. I believe that the DCED would even help pay for the study. Right now I am only speculating that the merger will be more benefical, that is why the study is needed to present the hard facts for or against the merger.

As a graduate of Baldwin and the parent of a Brentwood grad (and one to graduate next year) I have seen it both ways. I have seen what a large district is like (don't get me wrong--I enjoyed Baldwin and all a large class/district had to offer) and for the last 12 years have seen the small district. Educationally, I feel that Brentwood had prepared my children well for their future. Both have been able to benefit from the AP classes and now with the Middle States Accredidation under way I believe Brentwood is keeping up/excelling just fine. As far as socially, the small town school district is one of the reasons we live here. My children have made many lifetime friends who live a walk away. Growing up, the only "lifetime friends" you had were the ones that lived in "North Baldwin" or "South Baldwin" or wherever it was you lived in the district. The financial statements on the effects it will have on Brentwood will seal the deal for me.

If you don't like it in Brentwood, move to Baldwin. Whiners!!!!

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW MERGING THE DISTRICTS IDEA CAN BE BROUGHT UP TO THE BOROUGH AGAIN? I AM ALL FOR EXPANDING THE BRENTWOOD SCHOOLS AND OFFERING OUR STUDENTS A WIDER VARIETY OF SPORTS AND CLASSES AS WELL AS A BETTER STADIUM FOR SPORTS, NEW TRACK AND A NEW POOL!!! I HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED WITH MY CHILD'S EXPERIENCE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HERE IN BRENTWOOD AND THE POOR QUALITY AND COMMITMENT OF THE TEACHERS (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW)....

AS it was stated above, dont like Brentwood? MOVE!

Keeping small school districts like Brentwood, Clarton and Duquesne alive is one of reasons Allegheny County is so heavily taxed! But hey you like your small SD then fine keep it. Don't cry wolf when your taxes keep climbing. The paper stated that Brentwood is dipping into the fund balance just to balance their budget next year! Sounds like an increase in school taxes is coming to Brentwood.

Since I am a graduate of BW and live in Whitehall and don't have any children tell me how a smaller district is more in touch than the larger district. Also note that I went to a catholic school before attending Baldwin HS so I know the advantages of both types.

I will agree with you on funding and the teachers union but I still favor larger districts. I works in the south why not PA?

Finally, if not a property tax system then how would fund the schools? Increase the State income tax or sales tax? How about the tax on cigarettes or better yet gasoline!

The fact is that Allegheny County loves to duplicate services. Just look at the Fire departments around our area. Not picking on the firemen themselves but the amount of equipment each borough has. Do we really need that many pumpers!

I AM SORRY YOU GRADUATED FROM SUCH A POORLY RUN SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT THE ONLY COMMENT YOU CAN MAKE IS TO COMMENT ON MY USING ALL CAPS IN MY POST - IT GOT YOUR ATTENTION DIDN'T IT? I REALLY FEEL SORRY FOR UNEDUCATED PEOPLE WHO CAN ONLY COMMENT ON SURFACE IDEAS AND SAY THINGS LIKE "IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, MOVE!" I DON'T PLAN ON MOVING, BUT WILL RATHER USE MY EDUCATION AND INCOME TO FORCE CHANGE IN BRENTWOOD (AS WELL AS MY POLITICAL CONNECTIONS, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT POLITICAL CONNECTIONS WILL BE THE DECIDING FACTOR!). WHEN YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE SUCH THINGS AS CAPITALIZATION IN YOUR POSTS TO GET PEOPLE TO NOTICE YOUR IDEAS, IT WILL BE TOO LATE!

Brentwood is a Fine School District. But we Dont need people like you who sound like a troublemaker. Go back to your yuppie Shadyside Academy School. You need to use all capitalization in your quotes because you have nothing of value to say.