Degree Name

Education Specialist (EdS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1979

Thesis Director

Donald W. Smitley

Abstract

The field experience consisted of presenting options available to the Westfield School District, Westfield, Illinois, when faced with the fact that in the school year 1982-83, the enrollment in Westfield high school district #201 will fall below an average daily attendance figure of sixty. At this point the district will no longer be eligible to receive revenue from the state of Illinois in the form of state aid.

The field experience began by compiling background information on the history of the district and general information about the community of Westfield. An unusual fact that the study had to deal with was that the Westfield school system is designed as a dual district. There are two separate boards of education--one for the elementary district #105 and one for the high school district #201. An advantage to the dual district set-up is that revenue is received from taxing in both districts. As the field study reveals, a disadvantage is when and if a consolidation were to take place, the dual district must consolidate as a unit district.

The second part of the field experience dealt with options available to the Westfield school system when faced with the fact that the enrollment in the high school district will fall below an average daily attendance figure of sixty and the loss of state aid becomes a reality. Three of the options dealt with in the study involved consolidation with a surrounding district. The surrounding districts include Kansas, Casey, and Charleston. Another option available to the Westfield district is to ''split" the district which would enable surrounding districts to annex a part of the existing Westfield district. Those surrounding districts that could annex part of the Westfield district are Kansas, Casey, Charleston, and Martinsville. A fifth option the field study dealt with concentrated on a self-supporting district. The last option considered in the study was a temporary solution that would keep the dual district intact for two years. This involved going ahead and taxing in the high school district and using this tax revenue to pay tuition to surrounding schools which would allow the Westfield students to attend that selected school.

Using personal interviews, financial reports, district studies, and a random survey questionnaire, recommendations and conclusions were made dealing with the dilemma facing the Westfield school system in the near future. The recommendations and conclusions from the study will be made available for future considerations by the Westfield boards of education.

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