Newton School District Transportation Supervisor Monica Pritchard will keep her dual role next school year, and continue to also oversee transportation services in the PCM School District. Pritchard took on the added duties April 1st and finished out this past school year. PCM paid the Newton School District $7,890 for Pritchard services, which Newton Superintendent Tom Messenger said lessened the workload on PCM Transportation Director Tucker Gilbert. Gilbert also works on the PCM School District’s buses as a mechanic and drives a bus route. Last Monday, the Newton School Board accepted a new sharing agreement for the 2025-2026 school year. Superintendent Messinger says 25% of Pritchard’s time will be billed to the PCM School District, for a total payment of $35,923. But he adds Newton will also get $31,952 in state Operational Sharing funding.

“There are certain positions identified in schools, that if school districts share those positions, they get additional weighting for that. For example, a shared Transportation Director is worth five students. So you get additional funding to share with another district. The other advantage is you share some of the cost of the Transportation Director’s contract.”

According to Messenger, a majority of schools in the state do participate in Operational Sharing. This is the first time the Newton School District has, but he says it’s possible the district will learn from it and expand it to other areas.