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Watkins BOE gives go-ahead for talks with Bradford about possibility of consolidation

WATKINS GLEN, Sept. 22, 2025 -- The Watkins Glen School District Board of Education Monday night gave Superintendent Kai D'Alleva the green light to discuss with Bradford Central School District officials the possibility of consolidating the two districts -- to get an idea, said D'Alleva, "of what we would look like together."

D'Alleva said that in an era when state officials are encouraging the regionalization of school districts -- by combining two or more contiguous districts into one -- and with the promise of incentive funds to districts that consolidate (essentially merge) in the tens of millions of dollars spread across 15 years, such a move with Bradford would make sense financially. (Unofficially, the total available for a Watkins-Bradford consolidation would total more than $50 million.)

But, he said, the primary goal would be to maintain the level of opportunities for students -- both athletically and academically -- that currently exist in "an era of rapid change."

That change, he said, can be seen in the decline in Watkins Glen School District enrollment since 2014-15, when the Middle School was closed by school officials "who had the foresight" to know that that large structure was no longer needed -- borne out by a comparison of district enrollment then (1,141 students) and now (913), a loss of almost 20 percent. The enrollment at Bradford, with 200-plus students, has been stable in recent years.

D'Alleva said he started informal talks about 18 months ago with Bradford Superintendent John Marshall -- "conversations, really, about what it (consolidation) would look like." Later, officers of the two districts' Boards of Education were brought into it, although "nothing was formalized." Now, something formal -- if tentative -- will start, although D'Alleva said there is "a long way to go for this to be a glimmer of a possibility."

The process of consolidation is a long one, involving a merger study by an independent expert, votes by both boards and -- historically more challenging -- both an advisory vote by district residents which, if approved, would lead to a formal referendum of residents.

Watkins School Board President Keith Caslin weighed in about discussing consolidation: "I think we have to," he said. "We have to think outside the box."

One question raised was the status -- should a Watkins-Bradford consolidation reach fruition -- of existing merger agreements between the Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour districts in various sports. The two districts have combined squads in football, swimming, baseball and softball.

"We have no intention," said D'Alleva, "of not continuing our relationship with Odessa-Montour in shared athletics" -- O-M being a district that has historically opposed any district-wide consolidation. Nor did he have an answer to the future of the merged athletic programs in effect between the Bradford and Dundee school districts should a Watkins-Bradford consolidation occur.

"We don't know the direction this is going to go," said D'Alleva. "There's nothing official. It's a long process -- a complex process driven by statute. The goal is to maintain program while reducing the local burden."

Pursuing the issue by at least discussing it, he said, "is due diligence."

Photos in text:

Top: Logos of the Bradford and Watkins Glen School Districts as displayed during the Watkins School Board meeting.
Bottom: Watkins Glen School Superintendent Kai D'Alleva at the meeting.