NYS has encouraged districts of around 5000 students for years. This seems to provide a fairly good balance between small, local schools, where you know the principal by name, and the ability to provide a quality education, with a variety of staff. The cash aid varies from time to time. When Cobleskill & Richmondville merged 5 years ago, the State also threw in 95% of any new building costs.
Ed Hillenbrand
The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself. John Ciardi