Watchung Hills launches state-funded feasibility study of shared services and regionalization

The Watchung Hills Regional High School District on a virtual public forum introduced a state-funded feasibility study to examine shared services and the potential for regionalization across its sending districts.

"My name is Bob Morrison. I'm a member of the Watchung Hills board, and I'm chair of the Shared Services Utilization Feasibility Study Committee," Morrison said, noting the state awarded a $135,000 grant to cover the study costs. "This is not being done because of any specific need or any district is under financial stress or of any failure academically."

Project leaders said the study is exploratory and will prioritize educational benefits for students while also identifying potential taxpayer efficiencies. Mark Magyar, who leads the Rowan School Regionalization Institute and helped write the recent law enabling these grants, said the legislation expanded existing state grant programs and created fully state-funded regionalization/shared-services grants to encourage district reviews.

"The studies provide districts with a free demographic study, projections of state aid, cost-sharing options and potential governance arrangements," Magyar said, describing deliverables that will include demographic projections, staffing and salary analyses, facility-utilization reviews and multiple governance options districts could consider.

Kath B. Lehi, named in the forum as the lead investigator for this study, reviewed the four domains the team will examine: governance and law (including board composition and statutory issues), demography (enrollment and birth data), education and program (curriculum coordination, special education, ELL services and extracurriculars), and finance and operations (state-aid projections, tax levies, cost-sharing, collective bargaining impacts, transportation and contracted services).

The presenters said the study will be highly public: the project team will collect stakeholder input through parent and student surveys, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, site visits and additional town halls. The team plans to present draft findings to the project steering committee before issuing a final report.

On timing, presenters said work begins immediately and the team expects to complete the study in the April–June 2025 window, allowing time for review and discussion by the participating districts. Morrison stressed there is no predetermined outcome and that any decision to pursue full regionalization would require a public referendum.

During a question-and-answer period, Magyar said Rowan is conducting several similar studies across New Jersey and expects the number of studies to rise now that the legislation is in place. On implementation, Morrison said some shared services (for example, transportation) could be implemented relatively quickly if the boards agree, while larger consolidations such as a regionalized special education program or district-level regionalization would require more extensive planning and, where applicable, a public vote.

A participant identified in the forum as Christine, introduced by the chair as a borough president, asked whether sending districts are current on tuition or payment obligations; Morrison said, to his knowledge, districts are up to date and offered a follow-up discussion for any specifics.

Next steps: the study team will post materials and updates on the district's feasibility-study landing page and accept questions at boe@whrhs.org. The team said the forum recording and further resources will be available on the Watchung Hills Regional High School District website.