What About Merging Lyons Township Schools?

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — One of the arguments for keeping the Lyons Township Treasurer's Office is that it eliminates the duplicative costs of a dozen school districts with separate finance offices.

If that's the case, why not consolidate all the districts into one?

That's a question that Patch posed to Brian Barnhart, superintendent of Western Springs School District 101.

"From a business point of view, people absolutely see that there is an economies of scale of consolidation," Barnhart said.

At the same time, he said, communities' identities are often tied to their local districts. In Western Springs, District 101's boundaries nearly align with the village's.

"One of the hallmarks of Western Springs is that the village of Western Springs and the District 101 community are really tight," Barnhart said. "If you consolidate the districts of Western Springs and La Grange, what would happen to that identify piece? We know people in our community really like their neighborhood schools, with kids walking to school in the morning. If you consolidate and you have a massive district, do you lose that climate of connectedness?"

Also, Barnhart said 91 percent of District 101's budget comes from local taxpayer dollars, with the district spending less per student than the state average. Added to that, he said, the district is one of the state's top 10 performing districts.

"Local community members would probably have something to say about consolidation," Barnhart said. "We are spending our people's money. We are responsible to the highest level. We spend less than most.