Fact Sheet 25-3 School District Mergers/Consolidations

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Across New York State, some districts have either begun the discussion or are currently engaged in the process of conducting a school district reorganization, more commonly known as a district merger or consolidation.

In some cases, consolidation may be seen as necessary to meet the needs of communities and to expand educational opportunities for students. However, for most districts, consolidations will not be seen as a viable option, and instead, sharing services either with other districts or through the use of BOCES could produce savings without actually merging with another district.

There are five methods or types of school district reorganization in New York State:

1) Centralization
2) Annexation—Central School District
3) Annexation—Union Free School District
4) Consolidation of Union Free/Common School Districts
5) Consolidation with a City School District

Centralization has been the most common type of reorganization in New York State. Only under both Centralization and Consolidation of Union Free/Common School, is a new school district actually created by the reorganization. Conversely, under the remaining methods of reorganization (Annexation—Central School District, Annexation—Union Free School District, and Consolidation with a City School District), a new district is not created, rather the district being annexed is dissolved and becomes part of the annexing district.

The New York State Education Department has produced a “Guide to the Reorganization of School Districts in New York State.” This guide, which is attached to this Fact Sheet, is intended to provide an overview of the types of school district reorganization and the processes involved. The guide also includes passages on the “Effect on Employees” for each of the reorganization methods.

One item to note is that the 2025 NYS Enacted Budget has amended the calculation of the state aid apportioned to a new district after reorganization, called Reorganization Incentive Operating Aid (RIOA). The RIOA is available for 14 years beginning with the first school year of operation of the reorganized district. For districts that merge after July 1, 2024, the formula uses Foundation Aid in the RIOA calculation. Prior to July 1, 2024, the formula used the selected operating aid from the 2006- 07 year. The new calculation is beneficial to most NYS districts; however, the use of Foundation Aid in the formula may trigger a limit to RIOA and could impact the amount of RIOA available to some school districts.