COLUMBIA, Pa. -- People who live in a Lancaster County community are upset with their school board, even though the kids aren't even back in the classroom yet.
Both Columbia Borough and Eastern Lancaster County School District will now be sharing a superintendent. Dr. Robert Hollister already works for ELANCO, but he'll now be in charge of Columbia Borough too.
He said Columbia was having a hard time finding a new superintendent, so the school board decided Hollister should be in charge of both. Columbia Borough is paying $165,000 a year to ELANCO School District for things like the superintendent and other services.
Hollister said, "I'm really serving Columbia at no cost or no benefit to myself. The service contract pays for Mr. Strickler's salary and that is a revenue maker for Eastern Lancaster School as well."
ELANCO is now also bringing in a director of operations to Columbia Borough School District. That director is Tom Strickler, former Columbia School Board President.
"I do need someone on the ground who reports directly to me to keep me informed about what's happening here in the district. And obviously, Mr. Strickler has a long history with Columbia and knows the ins and outs of the community," Hollister said.
He said this will save both school districts money. But some people said it's not worth it and the idea wasn't well thought out.
But Hollister thinks the idea will take some time to get used to.
"There's a lot of newness to this and I think some folks are especially concerned about that and rightfully so because it is new. There is no roadmap. There is no other model. So part of this we're creating as we go and that creates some anxiety for folks," Hollister said.
Both school districts have a 90-day out if they are unhappy with how things are going. After one year, both school districts will reevaluate and decide if they want to renew the contract.