The Center Area school board is still not sure what it wants to do about merging with the neighboring Monaca School District, and appears content to wait for the issue to somehow resolve itself.

Monaca school directors have no such qualms and they have proposed putting the consolidation process back in gear.

After meeting April 23, the Monaca board proposed that the two boards let the state Board of Education conduct the long-stalled public hearings necessary for consolidation, and suggested that the two boards, their merger committees and their administrators resume their long-stalled planning meetings.

The public hearings have been on hold since December, when the Center board, in its first meeting with six new members, proposed withdrawing the merger application filed by the previous board majority in October. The board backed off after getting assurances that the state would give it time to ponder the issue.

The joint board meetings and joint committee meetings have been on hold since January; the Center board stopped scheduling them after both the media and the Monaca board insisted that they be held in public, in accord with Pennsylvania's Sunshine Law. Private meetings have been held between representatives of the two boards, but not of the committees.

The meetings between administrators stopped Jan. 17, when Center board president Richard "Bucky" Nicastro issued a letter forbidding them.

Monaca board president Bill Temple said the boards need to revive the planning process to have any chance of meeting the original July 1 consolidation date, especially when it comes to creating a joint budget. Schools are required to adopt budgets by the end of June, and at this point administrators from the two districts are not allowed to talk to each, making the budget process impossible.

"If there are any questions they have left, hopefully that can be answered while the state is doing its work," Mr. Temple said.

He said letting the planning go forward "would be a true sign that they are supportive of the merger, as they've said," and that it would still give the Center board an out. "Even at the 11th hour, if they didn't want it they'd still be able to stop it," he said.

Mr. Nicastro did not return phone.

Monaca Superintendent Mike Thomas said resuming the administrators' meetings is key because of the detailed planning.

"They were looking at issues like how to blend the two grading systems, how to handle the different graduation requirements, what to do about block scheduling versus traditional scheduling," Dr. Thomas said.

Members of the Center board majority have said they felt pressured by the ongoing meetings, and stopped the process to give themselves time to assess consolidation at a measured pace.

Monaca's letter also tackles the use of buildings, which appears to be the one major remaining issue. The letter proposes that if the two boards cannot reach a resolution, they should create a panel of university experts to analyze the two leading scenarios and make a binding recommendation.

Monaca's letter says the panel's decision should be based on "which scenario best meets the educational needs of students."

The Monaca board favors the scenario proposed in the original consolidation application, which would put elementary pupils in Center's primary and secondary elementary buildings, use Monaca's high school building as a middle school and Center's middle school/high school complex as a high school.

The latest scenario to emerge as the Center board's favorite is one putting all Monaca children directly into the existing Center schools.

Center's proposal would have economic advantages, saving money by closing the Monaca high school building. But putting the decision in terms of meeting "educational needs" seems to favor Monaca's plan, because it provides a free-standing, dedicated middle school and because it leaves extra instructional space in the high school.

Monaca's plan would save an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million a year compared to keeping the districts separate. Center's proposal could save as much as $6.5 million, according to an April 22 report by Center superintendent Dan Matsook.

Dr. Thomas does not think it's worth it. "The educational benefits that would be lost are not worth the additional savings," he said. "You want to run your school district as efficiently as possible, but you don't want to make decisions that are not best for students, especially when there's a substantial savings already."

The middle school plan would give those children a place of their own with an auditorium, a gym, athletic fields, art rooms and music rooms. The alternative plan would blend them more with high school students and would leave the high school/middle school slightly overcrowded.

Mr. Temple also noted that it would be easier to close the middle school later if enrollment keeps dropping than it would be to re-open it if it is eventually needed. He also noted that no matter what decision is made now, the new school board would be looking at building use on an ongoing basis.

"You're constantly reviewing what you're doing," he said. "It's not a 'set it and forget it' thing."

Mr. Temple also noted that having good facilities in a district willing to embrace a first-ever-in-Pennsylvania consolidation might make it an attractive place for newcomers. "I would like to grow the school district," he said. "I would not like to plan for it shrinking."

But Mr. Temple said he'd be willing to abide by the decision of a panel of experts either way -- and thinks the Center board members should be, too.

"Bucky [Nicastro] cuts grass for a living," he said of his Center counterpart, who owns a landscaping business. "I'm an industrial gas contractor. Neither one of us is an expert on school building use. We need to trust the experts."

Dr. Thomas also that the administrative planning would not be impacted by the lingering question of building use. Whether Monaca's high school is used as a district-wide middle school or not, issues of scheduling, curriculum, grading and graduation need to be decided, he said: "The same issues are going to exist either way."