School districts urged to share services

Many Nassau school districts are not taking advantage of a shared services program that could save them tens of thousands of dollars, County Executive Edward Mangano said Monday.

"I understand if some schools are bound to current contracts . . . or just flat out receive a better deal through various other options," said Mangano. "What I don't understand is why the rest don't participate when it can clearly help save tax dollars."

In 2009, the county and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services got a $1 million, three-year, state grant for a money-saving consortium.

The state Department of State-funded grant ended in March but has a year's extension, and Mangano wants more participation in the program that his aides said has saved schools more than $1.4 million.

Of Nassau's 56 public school districts, 32 participate in out-of-district transportation; 23 in building condition surveys. The other two primary areas are natural gas for heat and vehicle gasoline, with 11 and two participants, respectively.

But Terry Hood, Great Neck school district's business administrator and chair of the consortium's Purchasing Committee, said those numbers sound worse than they are.

"Shared services can be and are used by many school districts for leverage with existing vendors," she said. "Not only have I done it myself, but I've heard many other districts' officials talk about it," she said.

Rockville Centre Superintendent William Johnson praised the consortium program: "This is a way to operate more efficiently for less money."

Johnson added, "We need to explore every avenue of cooperation to do that."

Bethpage, East Meadow, Farmingdale, Lawrence, Long Beach and Wantagh don't participate, county officials said.

Farmingdale Superintendent John Lorentz said he was part of a smaller southeast consortium that includes Bethpage, Wantagh and other districts. "We study what's offered by the county consortium and go with the best pricing," he said.

Long Beach's David Weiss said the district's bus fleet uses natural gas, not gasoline, referring other questions to Mike DeVito, assistant superintendent for business, who did not return calls.

Mangano said he expects the consortium to continue even after the grant money is gone.