5 steps metro-east school districts must take if they decide to pursue a merger

Two school districts in the metro-east are currently considering whether they want to move forward with a proposal to consolidate .

In mid-July, board members of Madison District 12 and Venice District 3 began discussing the proposal during special meetings.

Ed Hightower, former longtime superintendent at Edwardsville District 7 and a consultant on the construction of a new elementary school in Venice, laid out the case in favor of a merger. He said a consolidation would improve the financial stability of the districts as well as the academic and co-curricular opportunities for students, among other things.

In consolidation, two or more school districts combine to create a new district with a newly-elected board and new tax rate. Illinois also provides some financial incentives.

The school boards of Districts 3 and 12 are still deciding whether they want to move forward with the proposal. Four of the seven members on each board must be interested for discussions to continue. If either board decides not to pursue a merger, the proposal is dead.

If both decide to go forward, these are the five steps that would have to happen for the two districts to consolidate as outlined in state law:

1. Petition

The consolidation process would begin when each school board files a petition to consolidate with Madison County Regional Superintendent Rob Werden.

At the July meetings, officials said that if both districts want to move forward, each board would need to approve a resolution at its August meeting to file a petition to Werden.

In addition to requesting to put the proposition to form a new school district on the ballot in a regular scheduled election, the petitions must also:

• Describe the territory of the proposed district
• Set the maximum tax rates the district would be authorized to levy
• Designate a “committee of ten” to represent all petitioners
• Request that a school board for the district be elected in the same election as the consolidation proposition

2. Local public hearings

Once Regional Superintendent Werden receives the petitions from Madison 12 and Venice 3, he would then publish notice of the petitions and a hearing at least once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper.

The hearing on the petitions would then have to be held within 15 days after the last notice was published. At the hearing, residents from each district would be able to provide their input verbally or in writing.

3. Regional superintendent decision

Within 14 days after the hearing, Werden would have to either approve or deny the petitions and then forward them to State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders.

Among the things the regional superintendent has to consider are the school needs and conditions of the two districts and in the adjacent area, the division of funds and assets that will result from the consolidation, the best interests of the schools of the area and the educational welfare of students.

4. State superintendent decision

State Superintendent Tony Sanders would have to review the record of the hearing and then approve or deny the petitions within 21 days, taking into account the same factors the regional superintendent did.

The state superintendent’s decision would be an “administrative decision” per state law, meaning any resident who attended the hearing or either school board could file a complaint for judicial review within 35 days of the decision being served.

5. Referendum

The proposition for consolidation would then be placed on a regular election ballot. At the July meetings, officials said this would be the April 2025 election.

To pass, a majority of those voting in each school district would have to vote in favor of consolidation.

If the referendum passes, the Madison and Venice school districts would continue to operate independently in the 2025-26 school year and then officially merge for the 2026-27 school year, officials said in July.