After hearing Monday that consolidation won't benefit taxpayers or the school district overall, Pekin District 108's board will discuss the issue at its strategic planning session June 10 and 11.

Last month board member Rich Root asked the administration to prepare general information on consolidation. At Monday night's board meeting -- held in the administrative offices at Washington Intermediate School -- District 108 Superintendent Perry Soldwedel presented a history of the issue, consolidation figures from last month's Pekin Community High School District 303 meeting, and an overview of District 108's plans to correlate education.

Based on District 303's figures, Soldwedel doesn't recommend consolidation on a financial basis.

"The conclusion is based on current law and funding levels," Soldwedel said. "We would be worse off to consolidate. Our current position is to continue to pursue curriculum and program collaboration."

Root said he is concerned with the District 303 graduation rate and wonders if it might improve with consolidation. He said if consolidation isn't feasible, then the boards should look for more ways to work together.

Finances and the law

The bottom line, Soldwedel said after the meeting, is that consolidation of all the districts isn't financially feasible, and it is illegal for districts 108 and 303 to unite without the other feeder districts unless those districts are provided with a high school.

Soldwedel said consolidation talk emerges when a district is in financial trouble. The high school district received less funds from the state after formulas used to figure aid were changed under the school reform law passed in 1996. The state has kept general state aid to the district at the same level it was when the reform law passed, but Pekin High Superintendent Kenneth Schwab fears the state may not keep its promise to keep funding at least at that level.

While Rankin, South Pekin and Spring Lake aren't interested in a unit district with the high school, Soldwedel said the three districts may join together in their own grade school district. Spring Lake has been on the state's financial aid watch list for several years now. Rankin is overcrowded and doesn't have the funds to build an addition, Soldwedel said.

But the tax rate would be less in some of the feeder districts if a unit district was formed, according to Schwab's calculations. For residents of Spring Lake, the joint tax rate for both districts currently is $6.13. If there was a unified district, the tax rate would drop to $5.34 for both.

In Pekin District 108, joining would save only about 3 cents, dropping from about $5.18 to $5.15. Rankin would drop from $4.98 to $4.70. North Pekin/Marquette Heights would rise from $5.08 to $5.38 and South Pekin would go up from $4.48 to $4.70, according to figures provided by District 303 administrators.

Those rates are based on maximum tax rates the law allows in all funds and the passage of a referendum to elevate funds that can't be added together by law such as the rent fund, Schwab said last month.

In the second through fifth year of consolidation, the new unit district would bring in more money because of state incentives to consolidate. After that, when state personnel payments, salary differentials and other incentives end, funding levels would decline, District 303 figures show.

State law requires that consolidating districts bring teachers to the top salary schedule of the districts combining. While the gap between the feeder districts and 303 teachers has closed over the years, the cost to equalize the feeders with 303 salaries would be $894,110, based on last year's figures.

Schwab said last month that Rep. Mike Smith, D-Canton, and Sen. George Shadid, D-Edwards, are willing to write a constitutional amendment to allow 108 and 303 to unite without the feeder districts if an agreement is reached between the superintendents and boards of both districts.

Soldwedel said Smith and Shadid want a written proposal agreed from each district before they will prepare special legislation.

Consolidation history

In the past, the two districts and the other four feeders, South Pekin, Rankin, Spring Lake and North Pekin/Marquette Heights, have cooperated in various joint adventures involving curriculum and services.

The Pekin Area Curriculum Coordinating Consortium (PACCC) was formed several years ago to make sure certain things are taught at certain grade levels, preparing students for high school.

Soldwedel said that alignment was finished last summer.

When District 108 received a multimillion dollar federal technology grant the high school was included. District 108 used part of the money to pay for a high school technology coordinator last year and will pay for new hardware over the next two years. Grant terms required District 108 to use grant funds to help local schools and the community technologically.

In December 1996, a joint meeting with superintendents and the president of each board of the feeder districts and the high school was held to discuss consolidation. Only Districts 303 and 108 expressed interest in unification.

The next attempt to align curriculum was the graduation rate study involving all the districts. It found that about 30 percent of the students who entered as freshmen at PCHS didn't graduate with their class. Soldwedel said that rate hasn't improved much.

Soldwedel said the Graduation Rate Study Committee suggested ways to stem the tide of those leaving school. Soldwedel said District 108 has followed those recommendations, but can't speak for the level of involvement for other districts.