Conshohocken, Plymouth and Norristown’s state representative advocating to reduce number of Pennsylvania school districts from 500 to 100

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Conshohocken , Nearby Towns , Plymouth Township | Education , Local News , Politics

June 5th, 2025 | By Kevin Tierney

In a May 27th memo to state legislators, State Representative Greg Scott (D, 54th District) advocated for Pennsylvania to revisit a 2009 proposal by then-Governor Ed Rendell to reduce the number of school districts in Pennsylvania from 500 to 100. Scott shared that proponents of such a plan believe that “fewer school districts would reduce administrative costs and increasingly burdensome property taxes.”

Scott is planning to introduce legislation to require the state house’s budget and finance committee to study the issue and make recommendations on how to achieve a reduction in districts. From his memo:

Costs for school districts and property taxes are only continuing to increase, requiring the General Assembly to act, which is why I am introducing legislation to require the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study and make recommendations related to the reorganization and consolidation of the current 500 school districts down to 100, similar to former Governor Ed Rendell’s 2009 proposal. It is important that we explore the possibility of once again consolidating our school districts as the General Assembly has done in the past, in order to increase the efficiency and quality of our public schools. 

School districts in Pennsylvania underwent significant reductions in the 1960s, with many districts being combined to decrease the total number from 2,506 to 500. For example, in 1966, the Colonial School District was created with the merger of four school districts: Conshohocken School District, Plymouth Township Elementary School District, Whitemarsh Elementary School District, and the Plymouth-Whitemarsh Joint School District. You can read about the history of the merger here.

While many districts were pressured to merge, some small community-based districts did survive, such as the nearby Jenkintown School District and Springfield Township School District.

Which suburban district or districts would make the most sense for Colonial to merge with? It borders the Wissahickon School District, the Springfield School District, the Upper Dublin School District, and the Norristown Area School District. It is also across the Schuylkill River from the Lower Merion and Upper Merion school districts.

Photo: Rep. Greg Scott (headshot)