REORGANIZATION OF COUNTY SCHOOLS
The purpose of the County Board of Education is to make a study of school conditions of the county and to implement improvements. Members are elected by the various Boards of Education in the county.
The St. Francois County Board of Education has considered the elementary schools of the county as their first objective of reorganization. Open hearings were held--first with the superintendents of the city schools, then with the school board members of the various districts which would be affected by school reorganization.
The basic concern of the County Board of Education was to attempt to provide equal educational opportunities for each child in the county. Since the wide variation in the taxable wealth of the school districts in the county and the number of children to be educated are not evenly distributed, many problems are created. Many schools are too small to provide an adequate school program.
The Board believes from investigation that reorganization would provide the following:
1. Establish a broader tax base.
2. Provide better educational program for the county.
3. Eliminate a duplication of facilities, particularly transportation.
4. Enable schools to make a more efficient use of their facilities and school funds based on a per pupil cost.
The proposed plan of reorganization as approved by the State Board of Education is comprised of the following districts:
District R-I -- Combining Bonne Terre, Primrose, Pleasant Mound, Germania and Koester.
District R-II -- Combining Desloge, French Village, Cave Spring, Patterson, Lambeth, Big River Mills, Cedar Falls, Gumbo and Turley, which is now in Ste. Genevieve County.
District R-III-- Combining Esther and Union District of Ste. Genevieve County.
District R-VI [sic] --Combining Leadwood, Frankclay and Mitchell.
The State Board of Education rejected the plan as submitted for the Farmington and Doe Run areas. On the above proposed reorganization plan a vote will be taken in each district to be affected on April 28.
The personnel of the St. Francois County Board of Education is: President, Elliott Straughan, Farmington; vice president, Fred Lesh, Doe Run; members: Russell Pigg, R. 1, Bonne Terre; Carl Webb, Knob Lick; Vernon Pierce, Desloge; and Louis F. Meyer, Valles Mines, Star Route; secretary, A. O. Hardy, Farmington.
The St. Francois County Board of Education has posted notices of elections to be held in the proposed reorganized school districts of the county. The date set for the elections is Tuesday, April 28, beginning at 6:00 a.m. and closing at 7:00 p.m. in all of the districts included in the proposed reorganization plan.
The qualified voters on the above date will go to the polls to vote on the following:
Whether--Bonne Terre District No. 12, Primrose District No. 4, Pleasant Mound District No. 17, Germania District No. 18 and Koester District No. 64, will become one enlarged school district known as District R-I of St. Francois County. A majority vote of all votes cast in all these districts is necessary to form the proposed enlarged District R-I.
Whether--Desloge District No. 29, Mostiller District No. 8, French Village District No. 10, Cave Spring District No. 13, Patterson District No. 15, Lambeth District No. 16, Big River Mills District No. 22, Cedar Falls District No. 23, Gumbo District No. 32 in St. Francois County, and Turley District No. 24 of Ste. Genevieve County, will become one enlarged District R-II of St. Francois County. A majority vote of all votes cast in these districts is necessary to form the proposed enlarged District R-II.
Whether--Esther District No. 27 of St. Francois County and Union District No. 25 of Ste. Genevieve County, will become one enlarged District R-III of St. Francois County. A majority vote of all votes cast in these two districts is necessary to form the proposed enlarged District R-III.
Whether--Leadwood District No. 63, Frankclay District No. C-4 and Mitchell District No. 31 of St. Francois County will become enlarged District R-IV of St. Francois County. A majority vote of the votes cast in these three districts is necessary to form the proposed enlarged District R-IV.
When a proposed enlarged district has been voted the secretary of the county board is to call for an election for the purpose of electing six members of the Board of Education in each enlarged district. The Board of Education selected at this special election is to take over all monies and properties, also the responsibilities of each of the districts that have become a part of the enlarged district. A transportation system will also be provided.
The school levies voted April 7, 1959 in each district will continue to be the levy until the next annual election unless the Board of Education of the enlarged district wishes, or deems it necessary to call an election for the purpose of changing the levy. Teachers contracts previously arranged for the coming year in each district affected by the reorganization become legal obligations of the boards of the enlarged districts.
The reorganized district board has the responsibility of disposing of property acquired through reorganization.
The County Board of Education has the authority to adjust boundary lines after reorganization is voted.