School Consolidation Bills Still Concern Local Officials

In February, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn told the Illinois General Assembly that consolidation of school districts throughout the state would help cut administrative costs. About two weeks later, Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) submitted House Bill 1886, which called for the consolidation of all school districts in Illinois into one or two districts per county within 18 months of the bill's passing.

The response was near-unanimously against this measure, and Rita was sharply criticized for not taking input from . One group in particular, based within Community Consolidated School District 146, which includes residents from Orland Park, Oak Forest and Tinley Park, started a Facebook page against the bill that attracted over .

A Youtube page was also .

Rita decided not to push , but he and others in Springfield still believe consolidation . Now, two other bills, HB 1216 and SB 1324 are making their way through the General Assembly.

In a telephone interview earlier this month,  State Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said he was opposed to HB 1886 and any other measure that calls for "one size fits all" consolidation.

"The governor raised the issue of consolidation as a way to save money, but it's much more difficult than he makes it seem," Durkin said. "Are there areas where we could save money? Sure. But I don't know if it's something that should be mandated upon the whole state."

Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for State Senator Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) said the proposal may be a good idea, but the devil is in the details and as of yet, none of those have been discussed.

“The idea of school districts consolidating is attractive to many districts, citizens, and legislators,” Schuh said. “But how that proposal comes into state law will have to be very carefully reviewed.”

Consolidation Concerns in Lemont

If mass consolidation were to occur across the state, the structure of public education would dramatically change in many communities, including Lemont.

Currently, receives federal funding through the Impact Aid program, which reimburses school districts for property tax money lost to government property. Since 1988, District 210 has received Impact Aid payments for , part of which is located within the high school's boundaries.

Though District 210 currently receives only 5 percent of its eligible funding due to federal spending freezes, , since boundaries would need to be redrawn and the Argonne property would no longer make up 10 percent of district land, as required by law.

Aside from the Impact Aid issue, District 210 Superintendent Sandra Doebert said she would oppose any plans for mass consolidation. However, it could make sense in certain parts of the state, she said.

"Consolidation is not a bad idea in all cases, but I don't think it can be a blanket move just to save money," she said. "Our state needs to look at the reality of the situation for each and every school and evaluate the potential consequences. As it stands, I think it might be a fiscally unsound decision."

Though the governor claimed his consolidation plan could save the state as much as $100 million, Doebert argued the savings might be offset by the costs of hiring support staff for superintendents and aligning teacher salaries.

"When you consolidate, the salaries must be aligned between the two districts, and in nearly every case that means bringing the lower salaries up to the higher ones," Doebert said. "That's extremely costly."

Tim Ricker, superintendent of , said he thought it was too early to comment on plans for widespread consolidation, but did say his district would oppose any plans that would negatively impact District 210. He referenced a consolidation feasibility study conducted last year by Doebert, which concluded that consolidating Districts 210 and 113A would not be beneficial.

"We've been down this road, and I think it's safe to say we would never push consolidation with District 210 because we've determined it wouldn't be the best decision for the community," Ricker said. "In terms of the current bills or the governor's plans, I think those proposals would take away that local control that's so important to us. People want to have a say in their local schools."

Town Hall Meeting in Tinley

Tonight at 7 p.m., concerned residents are meeting in a Town Hall at Central Middle School in Tinley Park to let their voices be heard about consolidation, and Patch will be there.

Editors from Orland Park, Tinley and Oak Forest will run real-time updates on a Town Hall blog on each of their sites. They will also be producing video at the event that will be posted throughout the evening.

Orland Park Editor Benjamin Feldheim contributed to this report.