School Consolidation

It’s Not a New Topic

A common refrain among Washington residents is a call to combine all of Washington’s school districts into one large unit district. The concept of consolidation is not new in our area and has been implemented many times in our history.

1940s: There were at least fourteen school districts in Washington Township.  Late in that decade, there was a push from Tazewell County to consolidate the 141 County school districts down to 25, including merging all of Washington Township’s schools into one district.  This was a grand plan that led to many consolidations in the area.  Washington did not consolidate into one district, but in 1948, six districts: Stormer, Cottonwood, Pleasant View, Green Ridge, Franklin, and part of the Jefferson school district all consolidated to make one larger school district called Pleasant View.  

1951: Washington Township added a school district.  A faction of residents from District 50 broke off in a dispute and formed the Hollands Grove School District.

1954: The Union School District consolidated and sent some of their students to District 50 and some to Morton.

1955: Central District 51 requested to be consolidated with Washington District 52.  At the time, Central was a one-room schoolhouse at the corner of Wilmor and Newcastle Roads (now a church) with around 30 students enrolled.  District 52 opposed this measure, and the proposal was eventually denied by the Tazewell County Board of School Trustees.  The reason for District 52’s opposition and the Board’s denial were the same: With the significant development of the Hillcrest and Washington Estates areas that had just begun to take shape, Central would likely gain significant enrollment in the coming years that would greatly change their school situation.

1961: A proposed bill would force any district under 200 students to consolidate.  At the time, Washington had nine school districts remaining in the township.  Only two of them, Districts 50 and 52, were above 200.

Liberty School District, the last one-room schoolhouse in Tazewell County, closed in 1961 and consolidated with Pleasant View.  Lafayette School was also being dismantled then, with some students switching to District 50 and others going into the Morton School District.  Hopewell School also consolidated into the Central School District.

By 1968, Washington Township was down to only five grade school districts: 50, 51, 52, 622 (Pleasant View), and 49 (Columbia).  During that year, the Washington schools were audited to determine their needs.  One of the recommendations to come from that audit was to form a unit district of all the schools in the town.  At the time, this would have caused many problems on the taxing front and would have reduced the funds the schools received from its residents by 50%, so the recommendation was not pursued.

In 1972, a group of private citizens formed a committee and started a campaign to put the question of forming a unit district up to the people by garnering enough signatures on petitions to have a vote.  The committee was comprised of Joel Opsomer, Glenn Aberle, Carlos Canamore, Kay Heavrin, Lewis Eckes, Warren Nichols, Richard Springer, William Tully Jr, and Lyle Van Hook.  Many of these people were school board members at various schools in the township but were not acting as representatives of the school.  A vote was scheduled for September 1972, and a media blitz ensued, with both sides lobbying for votes.

The vote results were staggering. 33% of registered voters turned out for this special election, and the unit district proposal was crushed by nearly a 5 to 1 margin, 2540-591.  Voters in all five grade school precincts turned it down.

1974: Columbia School District 49 consolidated with Central District 51.

1986: A plan was discussed to combine the grade school districts into two, with District 50 remaining as it was and Districts 51, 52, and 622 consolidating together.  The high school would remain a separate district.  Nothing became of this plan.

1994: Pleasant View closed and consolidated with District 52.

2011: Another study was done to determine the feasibility of a unit district in Washington.  The 274-page study revealed it was possible but would be very expensive.  The main sticking point was a state law that required consolidating schools to equalize salaries at the schools with higher salaries.  That alone would cost $3.5 million per year in additional expenses.

Will consolidation of all Washington school districts ever happen?  Given the results of the 2011 study, it seems unlikely, but you can bet that more discussions and more studies will be done in the future to determine what is best for the students of Washington.