Thomson Feasibility Study Public Meeting Invitation
Dear River Bend Families and Staff,
As many of you have heard, the community of Thomson, IL asked if River Bend would consider allowing them and their families to come to River Bend. The process of leaving the West Carroll School District and joining the River Bend School District is highly regulated by school code and legal requirements. The Board of Education for the River Bend School District has always been open to the move if there was a benefit to the students and families of River Bend. To best understand if bringing the Thomson residents and students to River Bend while detaching from the West Carroll district the Illinois State Board of Education granted the two districts funds to pay for a feasibility study. The feasibility study was commissioned in October by the two districts. The study seeks to evaluate the impact of the community of Thomson detaching from West Carroll and annexing it to the River Bend School District. The study evaluates the impact on both districts in the areas of curriculum, transportation, facilities, and finance.
For the process to move forward, Thomson has to officially ask the Regional Office of Education 8 if it can detach and be annexed by River Bend. Thomson has submitted a petition to ROE 8. The ROE 8 has to evaluate the petition to annex, and conduct a hearing at some point in the future. At the hearing the ROE 8 Board of Trustees evaluates the feasibility study recommendation, hears public comments, and hears information from both school districts. After the ROE 8 hearing a decision would be made.
The feasibility study is a single part of the overall process and a study commissioned by the two school districts to provide an indepth look at the impact of Thomson detaching from West Carroll and annexing to River Bend. The feasibility study team will present its findings to the two school boards at a public meeting.
The feasibility study report that will take place on Thursday, March 21st at the West Carroll Primary School Gymnasium 2215 Wacker Road Savanna, IL. at 6:00 PM. This is a public meeting and all are invited to attend.
I would offer to answer any questions, but information about the overall process and the next steps are not known. The initial step of understanding the impact via the feasibility study will be shared with all at the public meeting.
If you are unable to attend, a summary of the findings will be provided after spring break.
Serving River Bend,
Darryl Hogue