One guest in attendance, John Slater, of Bushnell, voiced his concerns with a number of the subcommittees’ recommendations, including those pertaining to curriculum and transportation.

Slater told transportation Vice Chairman Dan Mahr that he was concerned about the length of bus rides some students might face in a consolidated district, as well as the overall safety of students.

“You’re going to have a lot of students who ride the bus for a shorter time than they do currently,” Mahr countered to Slater.

Slater also pressed the Committee of 10 to consider using Illinois Virtual School, which provides online courses to high school students and distance learning courses from local community colleges. Those additions, Slater said, can provide high-level courses to students without adding cost to the school district.

“You’re pushing for this Virtual School because you don’t want to consolidate,” Sharon Lomax, a member of the curriculum subcommittee and a math instructor at Carl Sandburg College, responded to Slater. “Wouldn’t it be better to have a curriculum with a teacher in the classroom?”

Jerry Arthur, Committee of 10 chair, said once the committee has a chance to discuss the recommendations they will be placed on file in each school district’s administrative office.

Arthur was unsure when that might be and stated he didn’t want the Committee of 10 to put something on public display that might later be thrown out by the committee. The subcommittees’ information was accurate, Arthur said, “but it’s very difficult to say if this will be exact.”

The next Committee of 10 meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, at the Bushnell-Prairie City High School.

The B-PC, Avon and Abingdon school districts agreed to form the Committee of 10 after the results of a feasibility study released in January 2010 concluded that a three-way consolidation was the best reorganization option for the districts.

For the rest of the article, go to Reorganization plan advances