The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by David Grimes for The Quill
The April 5 ballot in Henderson and Hancock counties will ask voters to choose township, village and other local government officials for the four years ahead, but two school reorganization proposals - one decided last November and one to be decided on the April ballot - will also require voters to make choices.
Voters in four Hancock County school districts - LaHarpe, Dallas City, Nauvoo-Colusa and Carthage - will be asked if their high schools should reorganize to form North Hancock High School.
If the convergence measure passes, it would be the first successful high school merger in the state of Illinois.
Voters also will be asked to support or reject an $18 million building bond measure that would underwrite the cost of the new high school's construction along Illinois 94 north of Carthage.
A third recently added option will ask if voters support the convergence but want to postpone construction of the new school for up to three years or until word is received regarding Capital Development Board approval of the four districts' entitlement to $10 million, with the remaining $8 million in funding coming from local taxes.
Ballot styles in each district will list appropriate tax rates being sought in the education, fire prevention and life safety, transportation and operations and maintenance funds.
Tax rates in the same four funding categories also will be cited for the proposed new high school district.
Voters in the four school districts affected by the convergence issue also will be asked to choose seven school board members, one from each district and three at-large candidates, with no more than three board members coming from any one district.
Board candidates include Daniel L. Horton from the LaHarpe School District, Janet B. Vass from Dallas City, Robert Menn from Carthage and at-large candidates James K. Pettit and Lyndon Blair, both from Carthage.
No candidate filed from the Nauvoo-Colusa district.
If the convergence measure passes, four new elementary boards of education must be formed to oversee each of the four existing school districts.
Each district's voters will be asked to vote for seven candidates who will comprise those elementary boards.
Five candidates are running for seven seats in the Dallas City School District. They are Jason Gold, Cindy S. Leake, Eldon Brent Sparrow, Darren Smith and Cheri Kay Stevens.
Candidates running for LaHarpe Elementary School Board are Mark Irish, Ricky Johnson and Cindy Wear.
Carthage candidates are Trisha Markley and Mark Trautmann.
Again, no candidates from the Nauvoo-Colusa School District registered for ballot placement.
Should the high school convergence proposal not pass, there are still four-year term school board seats to be filled in all four current school districts.
Four seats on the Nauvoo-Colusa School Board are up for grabs, but only three candidates will appear on the ballot. Those candidates are Anthony C. Knipe, Elaine Ferguson and Randy Douglas.
Dallas City also has four school board seats open, with candidates Janet Vass, Jason Gold, Cindy Leake and Cheri Stevens having filed for ballot placement.
Darren Smith also is listed on the Dallas City ballot as a candidate to complete the unexpired two-year term of Shawn Hopper, who is currently in Iraq on National Guard duty.
LaHarpe also has four school board vacancies to be determined next month, with Mark Irish and Daniel L. Horton the only two candidates listed on the ballot.
Voters in southern portions of Henderson County within the LaHarpe and Dallas City school districts will be asked to decide the same school district questions.
Four candidates competing for three school board seats will appear on the ballot for voters in the Carthage School District. James Pettit, Mark Trautmann, Trish Markley and Tom Holtclaw are vying for those positions.
There are no county board seats to be decided in either Henderson or Hancock counties, but a sales tax proposition will ask Henderson County voters if a one-cent public safety tax should be imposed on products such as restaurant food, liquor and gasoline to boost dwindling county revenue.
Should that measure pass, the tax would go into effect Jan.1 of next year.
Three school board seats need to be filled in the Southern School District, with members serving until the new West Central School District forms July 1, but no candidates have filed for ballot placement.
Three school board seats also are open on the current Union School Board for short-term service, with Doug Sams and Beth Weber appearing as candidates on the ballot.