March 15, 2011—Seven school districts and the Schenectady County government are partnering to apply for a $45,000 county-wide efficiency grant to study business related functions and activities that could potentially be consolidated or shared in order to reduce the costs to the taxpayers.

The New York State Department of State offers a Local Government Efficiency Grant program that encourages municipalities to work together to study the benefits of shared services.

Schenectady County government along with Schalmont, Burnt Hills, Duanesburg, Scotia-Glenville, Niskayuna, Mohonasen and Schenectady City school districts have agreed to partner for the grant and explore options for sharing services in business administration, auditing, purchasing, personnel, central stores, printing and mailing for purposes of greater efficiency and cost savings.

The districts agree to apply for the grant and to share the cost of $5,000 grant match, split equitably based on district enrollment. Schalmont's share of the grant is approximately $326.

The grant will be submitted on March 16. A response to the grant is expected within six weeks following the submission.

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