Local grade school fights for survival

De Soto speaks out about bill to change consolidation criteria

Pastel Mexican paper cuttings flutter on the along the long corridor, and the mighty Ranger emblem is proudly displayed throughout the school.

A group of pre-kindergarteners stand in a line in the gymnasium listening to Buster the Bus teach them bus etiquette while repeating his instructions.

Two teachers watch over them, smiling as they diligently mimic his words.

A superintendent peeks his head through the double doors of the gym entrance and chuckles at their delight in learning.

But a bill currently under review in the Illinois Senate could close the doors of De Soto Consolidated Elementary School District 86 and send nearly 300 children by a life-size school bus 10 miles one way to Carbondale schools.

The De Soto School Board recently unanimously passed a resolution declaring its opposition to Amendment 2 of Senate Bill 0368, which would require mandatory consolidation of any elementary school within its high school district upon a majority vote.

Amendment 2 is completely different from the first amendment that would allow any school district that did not wish to participate in consolidation to remain a separate school district and still feed into the high school. Currently, if school consolidation is proposed and one school votes it down then the proposal is killed.

De Soto is one of four feeder schools, along with Giant City Consolidated School Dist. 130, Unity Point Community Consolidated School Dist. 140 and Carbondale Elementary School Dist. 95, which send their children to Carbondale Community High School Dist. 165.

Robert Koehn, superintendent of the De Soto Grade School, does not approve of such legislation because he said it takes control from the local people and said legislators are not looking at the best interest of the students.

As Amendment 2 outlines, voters in each of the school districts involved would vote on the consolidation with a majority victory. Koehn said even if the De Soto district voted 100 percent no, the other districts’ voters could still override it.

“I think the perception is that unit districts are more efficient money-wise,” Koehn said. “And to me right now, I feel that has a higher priority of importance than necessarily what’s best academically.”

Koehn equated consolidation to a decision he had to make recently. He had 29 students enrolled in one kindergarten course with one teacher. He could split the class and spend the extra money on another teacher, which would benefit the children’s education or he could try to save a few dollars and keep them as one class.

“If you make the wrong decision those kids will live with that wrong decision, it will negatively impact them for a number of years and that’s a fact,” Koehn said.

Only with consolidation it’s not 29 kids, it’s about 2,700, Koehn said. He decided to split the class.

“It’s rarely, if ever, just money. And if it is just money, you better become very suspicious about your solution because it shouldn’t be just money – not in education,” Koehn said.

Lee Milner, State Board of Education spokesman, said the students’ interest should always be first and foremost in consolidation.

“Certainly one of the reasons schools have consolidated in the past is to save money,” Milner said. “Although in many instances money has been the motivation, the bottom line should be what is best for the students.”

Sue Smith, a De Soto resident for 25 years and De Soto teacher for nine, said the impact of the children should be the main factor when determining a consolidation.

“If it’s all dollars and cents then there is another side to look at and that other side is how can we best educate these boys and girls,” Smith said.

Bill Rogers, superintendent of Giant City Consolidated School District 130, said Giant City is defiantly not interested in consolidation and that the board is currently looking into adopting a resolution similar to De Soto.

“I think we’re doing an excellent job right now educating children,” Rogers said. “There are situations that consolidation does streamline and save money. If you look at what Giant City is doing, I don’t think it would be cost-saving to anyone.”

The cost of consolidation

The first step in consolidation would be electing a new school board, which would then hire a superintendent to oversee the new district. The board would be in charge of making major decisions such as closing a school or reorganizing its grade make-up.

Koehn said among other things he is concerned about the initial cost of consolidation.

“There are some inefficiencies. Costs are going to outweigh the savings initially,” Koehn said. “Without the state incentives I think at the beginning it would be a pretty expensive decision.”

In his budget address in early April, Gov. Rod Blagojevich nixed consolidation incentives in his effort to hoist the state out of a $5 billion deficit. The incentives were designed to eliminate debt and pay teachers equal wages as that of their new co-workers after a consolidation.

During Koehn’s six years as superintendent about $3 million has gone into school renovations and the construction of a new gymnasium. He said Carbondale elementary schools have about 1,400 students and the other feeder districts have about 1,300, but said what do you do with 2,700 students if they decide to consolidate to one location?

“Building a new building costs money,” Koehn said. “Do you just walk away from the money invested in the [De Soto] building?”

Milner said a new tax rate would also have to be determined in a consolidation. He said a committee would have to take a look at what tax rate would be needed to support the system, whether it be higher or lower than the current tax rate, and then it would be part of the vote to consolidate.

“I think a consolidation, at least in the short run, would cause an increased expense,” Koehn said.

Koehn said if the school was in academic and financial trouble then there would be a more justified reason for consolidation.

“We’re on reasonably solid ground,” Koehn said. “If it’s not broke why fix or change it?

Financial difficulties were the reason Glendale Community Consolidate School Dist. 160 annexed into the Carbondale Elementary system in 1987, according to former Glendale Superintendent John Williams.

Glendale, a K-8 school composed of children residing north of the industrial park to the southern De Soto district line, east to Williamson county and west to Southern Illinois Airport, was located at the current SIU Head Start Building on north U.S. 51.

The process of annexation differs from consolidation in that if it is approved by both the school board and the Regional Board of Education then a majority vote by the community is not necessary.

Williams, who is currently the financial assistant superintendent of Carbondale Elementary Schools, said in Glendale’s situation annexation benefited everyone involved.

“That particular experience was very positive. It was a win-win situation as far as Carbondale and Glendale were concerned,” Williams said.

He said Glendale, a smaller school of about 120 students, was unable to provide programs competitive, especially at the junior high level, to the larger Carbondale program. And he said Carbondale was looking to increase enrollment.

The students were split up and sent to two different schools, a change Williams said resulted in a relatively smooth transition.

“I think the kids did very well with it. I think it may have been easier on the students than the adults sometimes,” Williams said.

The transition was made even smoother by the state consolidation incentives offered at the time. At the time, Glendale’s budget balanced while Carbondale was about half a million in the hole. Williams said annexation and subsequent incentives eliminated the debt. It also covered the difference Glendale teachers, who were all assimilated into the Carbondale schools, to receive the same increased pay as the other teachers for three years.

Williams said in the long term, annexation or consolidation can lead to cost savings by primarily eliminating duplication of services, but the initial costs can be considerable.

Losing a community sense of pride

Koehn said a school serves as more than just an institution of learning in many small towns across America – it’s a source of pride, identity and belonging.

He said organizations such as churches and clubs serve a similar function, but there is a particular pride, an esprit de corps, or an intense feeling of loyalty, which goes into being affiliated with a certain school.

“It’s been my experience that a school adds a lot to a town – to a community – in a lot of ways,” Koehn said. “It’s a gathering point, a focus point of the community.”

Koehn said consolidation requires a change in these types of intangibles that isn’t an easy process and is why small communities put up such big fights for their schools.

He said there is a transition period in a new district that takes a generation or maybe more for the students to fit in and identify with the new school completely.

Conflicts of turf and a sense of injustice are just a couple of the problems that can arise from consolidation.

“I think we have a community pride in the grade school. I think the community would definitely see it as a loss.

Carol Tindall, a secretary at the school who has lived in Desoto for 21 years and worked at the school since 89, has two kids who both went through the De Soto school and then Carbondale High School.

She said people always say, “If you lose your school you lose your town.” She said people who are looking to move to a town want their kids to go to school in that town.

As a De Soto teacher and resident, Smith said losing the school would be a huge blow to the town.

“It also creates pride in the students that they can go to school in the town that they live,” Smith said. “I think that’s an important thing to have pride in your home.

“It affects so many people. Not just teachers. Not just communities. Every one of these children their lives will be changed, whether it be good or bad,” Smith said.

Reporter Sara Hooker can be reached at [email protected].