The N.C. School Boards Association says mergers should be left to the locals.

Lobbyist Leanne Winner said that a budget provision that would fund only one school district in each of the state's 100 counties was a bad idea.

"We have been — and continue to be — adamantly opposed to it," she said. "We believe those 15 city systems still exist for a reason and that should be a local decision as to whether they continue to exist."

She said the reasons are different for each of the 15 city systems in 11 counties.

Winner argued that the state would not save any money for several years since administrators are signed to three- and four-year contracts.

She also argued the state would lose some federal money if high-poverty districts such as Lexington and Thomasville were merged with Davidson County schools.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand has also sponsored a bill and attempted to add a similar provision to the budget in a previous year. 

UPDATE: The Senate Appropriations Committee removed the school system merger provision from the budget this afternoon.

June Atkinson says the state shouldn't force school systems to merge.

The state schools superintendent objected today to a Senate budget provision — and a related bill — that would limit state spending to one school system per county.

That would affect a handful of school systems in the state, including Orange County and Chapel Hill schools.

"I do not agree with that," Atkinson told Dome. "I understand that these are difficult economic times, but I think that decision has to be made at the local level."

The bill is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand.

Related: Sen. Martin Nesbitt, a Buncombe County Democrat, also objects to the proposal.