Poll: Most want school districts merged

A slim majority of Long Island voters favor merging their local school district -- either with a neighboring one or townwide -- but oppose countywide consolidation by a wide margin, according to a new Newsday/Siena Research Institute poll.

Of the 804 poll respondents, 52 percent supported a merger with a neighboring district, with 43 percent opposed. Voters favored merging all school districts in their town by a similar margin.

However, 70 percent oppose combining all school districts into a single countywide one. They were split over whether to leave the current system of 124 Long Island public school districts as-is: 46 percent supported it and 49 percent opposed it.

"I would like to see schools consolidated that are close together geographically," said respondent Kathleen Carter, 58, a retired librarian from Riverhead. "It would make sense financially. You could do group orders, share speakers and other costs."

School consolidation was among several local issues -- including the SAT cheating scandal, the over-prescription of drugs and where to put a Shinnecock Indian casino -- covered in the poll. The survey was conducted by telephone Dec. 12-15 and Dec. 18-19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Victor Salas, 26, of Uniondale, said he believes school "consolidation would save taxpayer money and would be more efficient for students."

But James March, president of the Long Island School Boards Association and a Bayport resident, said residents "want to be convinced there is a combined savings. They also like the individuality of their districts."

State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. recently floated countywide consolidation as a way to save money and distribute funds more equitably.

"School district consolidations ought to be given serious consideration, not only as a way to save money by pooling scarce resources, but more importantly as a way to expand programmatic opportunities for students," King said in a statement to Newsday. "Whether achieved at the county level or through the merger of several districts, consolidations can streamline the delivery of programs and services to students, thereby expanding and strengthening the academic opportunities available to them."

On other issues, the poll showed:

Respondents by 50-45 percent said it's appropriate for students caught cheating on college admission tests to be prosecuted criminally. Five percent did not know or had no opinion.

"There is a sense of outrage toward these students," said Siena pollster Donald Levy. "Cheating does not play well in our society. And there is a general consensus that this kind of behavior is wrong."

Carter, the librarian, said, "Kids have been cheating on the SATs for years. But now we are coming down on them with a hammer."

Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice has charged 20 students in the scandal on the county's North Shore, including five former high schoolers she says were paid to take the test for others.

Eighty percent of residents said they were very or somewhat concerned that medical professionals are knowingly assisting people to obtain large quantities of prescription pain medication, while 14 percent said the issue was not very significant or insignificant. Six percent didn't know or had no opinion. Eighty-six percent support new criminal sanctions that would punish doctors or pharmacists who prescribe or dispense prescription drugs in unjustifiably large quantities.

Of the potential sites for a proposed Shinnecock Indian Nation casino, 35 percent favored Belmont Park, 32 percent wanted Yaphank, and 17 percent were for the Nassau Hub. Eleven percent do not want a casino on Long Island and 5 percent had no opinion or did not know.