The commission on Property Tax Relief released their recommendations recently and they called for mandatory consolidation of all school districts with less than 1000 students.
You can read about it here (includes a link to the full report).
These recommendations have no force of law and are simply recommendations. The State Assembly and Senate would have to pass legislation and the Governor would have to sign it.
The problem is that most teacher union contracts require that all teachers keep their jobs in the event of a merger and the professional administrators who run most school districts have shown no ability to cut costs even though enrollment in north country schools is declining significantly. Our own State Senator, Betty Little, seems hesitant on consolidation.
The good news may be that the problem has grown so significantly that it cannot be ignored anymore.