The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By David Grimes,
Quill Correspondent
The best possible solution for a proposed consolidation pact involving five west central Illinois school districts includes the building of a new high school facility at Blandinsville a streamlined student transportation strategy that will ensure no student rides a bus for more than an hour per school day and more bang for the buck in the area of curriculum offerings.
That was the recommendation of Drs. Max Pierson and Bob Hall of Western Illinois University, Macomb, authors of a consolidation study done for LaHarpe, Northwest, Colchester, Roseville and Southern school districts.
Speaking to a group of 200 administrators, board members and others from the communities involved at a public information meeting at Northwestern High School Tuesday night, Pierson stressed that neither Hall nor he stood to gain anything from the study's findings since neither of the men live in, own property in or have children enrolled in school in any of the districts involved.
"This is just the next evolution of what's been going on around us in other districts in the state of Illinois," Pierson said.
The evolution Pierson referred to is currently dwindling farm land values coupled with a decline in student populations in the state's more rural school districts. Farm land value, currently experiencing a 10% decline, is expected to continue to erode for several years. In Illinois, local tax rates are figured on each $100 of assessed valuation.
As for the drop in students from rural areas, Pierson said that there was a time when a person could not look a quarter mile in any direction and not see a farmhouse.
"Today, all you will see is a bare spot where the farmhouse used to be," he said.
The result has been that an increasing number of districts are operating in the red or looking at dealing with that issue in the near future.
LaHarpe and Northwest approached Pierson about conducting a comprehensive study including academic and financial implications for their districts last summer. Colchester, Roseville and Southern were invited to join in the project shortly thereafter.
Pierson spoke with representatives from the five districts about curriculum possibilities in a December meeting, pointing out that all the districts being considered are comparable in their current academic offerings.
A larger staff, however, allows for more sections of the same courses being offered, even after limiting teachers to five class preps per day.
While the study included combination possibilities ranging from two to five districts, Pierson said that a minimum of three would be necessary to effect any significant change in curriculum enhancement and five districts needed for maximum results. With five districts, curriculum expansion would grow to include advanced placement courses for college credit, four years of a foreign language and two years of a second foreign language, as well as occupational classes.
The findings of the financial portion of the study parallel those of the curriculum portion Pierson shared in December.
While the five high schools have a current combined student population of 691, that will level off at 512 in ten years.
The superintendents of the five districts involved were invited to share information on their individual tax rates and financial conditions.
Colchester's Jerry Meyer said that his district would be looking at a $520,000 deficit in its education and operations funds in 2002-03 and that all the district's reserve funding would be gone by 2003-04.
Acknowledging that his district is facing hard times ahead, Meyer said, "Something has to be done in Colchester."
While declining to give hard numbers until district voters could be supplied with them through a community meeting, La Harpe interim superintendent Jerry Arthur confirmed that hard times are ahead for all small districts in the state.
"We are beginning to see a decline in assessed valuation and in enrollment," he said. "It's making a situation that's going to be very difficult."
"The pattern seems to be the same for each of us, in that it is going to be more costly to stay by ourselves." Southern's Charlie Barber said that while his district had brought in over $1,000,000 in reserve funding this year alone, in two years there will be no reserves.
But it isn't because of poor administration, Barber said.
"The legislators have not really addressed our financial woes," he said. "We're not doing a bad job. "We've not been dealt bad cards."
"We're faced with a situation resulting in the fact that the state of Illinois has failed to sit down and say, ÔWe need to fix this.'
"Over one half of the districts in Illinois are operating in red ink."
Pierson recommended that a new district be formed with a new 6-12 facility constructed at Blandinsville. Blandinsville, he pointed out, would be able to handle additional water and sewer needs posed by the new high school and precluded the need for a manure lagoon.
The new district could accommodate students at two existing high school sites during the two-year construction period, with elementary schools remaining in their respective home districts. If all five districts are involved, assumed savings in the areas of administrative salaries and benefits, teacher salaries and location of one central district office would result in a total savings of $1,149,000.
The savings figure does not include superintendent salary or the cost of equipment and supplies.
Closing of the present La Harpe elementary school building, vocational building, cafeteria, the Southern junior high building at Media, Southern high school building at Stronghurst, Northwest's junior and senior high school facility, Roseville's high school and Colchester's junior and senior high schools, adding a cafeteria at Laharpe and making major renovations at Southern would effect a cumulative cost savings of $870,000.
"The newest of these buildings is about 40 years old," Pierson said. "And the life expectancy of their infrastructure, their electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems, is about 40 years."
Pierson's recommendations in the study included:
1) Each district seriously review the pros and cons of a multi-district consolidation.
"If, in fact, the reason for this reorganization is to provide better opportunities for boys and girls then this decision is predetermined," Pierson said.
2) Pierson said the opportunity to exchange old, outmoded facilities for a new, high quality facility while reducing long term expenditures is "too good an opportunity to miss."
3) The opportunity for program improvement by affording teachers the opportunity to teach in their major area of expertise would result in improved staff morale. Teachers presently are forced to teach in minor areas and some have as many as five class preparations a day, Pierson suggested.
4) Transportation could be an area of savings in the event of reorganization through standardization of equipment, elimination of duplicate maintenance sites, elimination of two radio dispatching centers and large quantity purchasing power. The state of Illinois currently picks up 80% of a school district's transportation cost.
5) The larger district would also provide for greater stability in staffing, enrollments and equalized assessed value.
The assessed value for the new district would be the combined EAV and would be less susceptible to large changes due to the addition or loss of any single employer or economic problems in any particular sector.
6) Efficiencies of scale would result. Lower administrative costs and improved teacher/pupil ratios would afford the opportunity for fund redirection in certain areas. The new high school, once complete, would require an approximate staff of 38 teachers. Approximately $1,650,000 could be redirected into educational programming.
Pierson said reduction in force doesn't need to be a difficult issue in a consolidation move, when there is a good number of staff willing to at least consider early retirement. But people do need to be a consideration.
"You can slice the heck out of school programs," Pierson said, "but 80% of a school's budget is spent on people. You can't balance a budget on 20%."
"And you can't vote enough money to save your district."
Those attending the meeting were encouraged to ask questions of their superintendents and boards and begin scheduling community meetings to gauge the interest in consolidation. Those wanting to review Pierson's full 140-page work were told they could secure copies from their superintendents.