PORTLAND (AP) – The size of a school district has no impact on academic performance, according to a study by a nonpartisan policy research center.

The study, conducted by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine, looked strictly at how the number of students in a school district affects student academic performance. It did not consider socio-economic factors.

It concluded that there is no correlation between a school district’s size and the scores on the state’s educational assessment, high school dropout rates, school attendance rates or the number of high school seniors who go on to college.

The study adds fuel to a statewide debate over whether bigger is better when it comes to education.

Supporters of consolidation say merging school districts would save millions in administrative costs, money that could be put to better use in classroom instruction or local tax relief. Opponents say consolidation hurts students and takes local control away from rural communities.

Philip Trostel, a University of Maine associate professor of economics who co-wrote the study, said researchers used data from the 2000-2001 school year. That year Maine school districts were among the smallest in the country, averaging 934 students versus 3,177 students per school district nationwide.

There was one school district official or administrator for every 816 students nationwide compared to one for every 393 students in Maine. There was one principal for every 33 students nationally, compared to one for every 230 students in Maine.

“Schools are doing more and more, which requires a lot of infrastructure to make it happen. You cannot do these things in a one-room classroom anymore,” Trostel said.

Gov. John Baldacci has made school consolidation one of his top priorities, creating a task force to look at the issue and pushing for new laws to regionalize school districts.

Trostel’s findings are no surprise to those pushing for consolidation, said James Rier, state policy director for school funding. But he doesn’t expect the report to quiet the debate on the issue, which he predicts will continue as Maine’s student population keeps declining and the population continues aging.

State Rep. Stephen Bowen, R-Rockport, an eighth-grade social studies teacher who sat on the governor’s school regionalization task force, said he doubts there is a lot of money to be saved by consolidating school districts.

The task force last year found that many school districts are already cooperating, joining up to make bulk fuel purchases and to provide special education services, he said.

Bowen said focusing on consolidation to reduce the cost of education avoids addressing the real causes of escalating education budgets, such as high insurance and labor costs, and federal and state mandates.

Bowen said in his district, the superintendent and top administrators spend most of their time dealing with mandated school assessments.

“Consolidation looks good on paper,” he said. “But you have to look at the real cost drivers.”

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