(105 ILCS 5/3A-3) (from Ch. 122, par. 3A-3)
Sec. 3A-3.
Voluntary consolidation of educational service regions.
Any 2 or
more educational service regions may be consolidated into a single region in
the manner provided in this Section. All of the territory of any educational
service region shall be determined by county boundaries, but supervision and
control over school districts that are divided by a county line shall be
determined under Section 3-14.2 of this Act.
Each regional superintendent of a region that does not conform to the
population requirements of Section 3A-4 and seeks voluntary consolidation under
this Section shall appoint a nonpartisan citizens committee consisting of 5
members to consider the advisability of such a consolidation. Such regional
superintendent shall serve as ex officio secretary to the citizens committee.
This citizens committee may petition the regional board of school
trustees serving each of the regions involved for consolidation of those
regions into a single educational service region. When such a petition
is filed, the regional board of school trustees shall conduct a hearing
on the petition, after notice of the hearing has been published once,
not more than 15 nor less than 10 days before the day of the hearing, in
a newspaper having general circulation in the region. The secretary of
the regional board of school trustees shall also notify the secretary of
each school board affected by the proposed consolidation, the chairman of the
county board of each county affected thereby and the State Board of Education
that such petition has been filed. The notice shall state the date when
the petition was filed, the prayer of the petition and the date, time
and place of the hearing. Such hearing shall be held jointly by all of
the regional boards of school trustees affected by such petition and the
State Board of Education shall arrange for such joint
hearing and pay the expenses thereof. Evidence admissible at the hearing
shall include, but not be limited to, the school needs and conditions in
the territory affected by the proposed consolidation, whether or not
such area is compact and contiguous; and whether or not the proposed
consolidation would be in the best interests of the schools of the area
and the educational welfare of the pupils of such schools. At the
hearing each resident of the region shall have the rights provided for
residents under Section 7-6 and the final order of the regional board of
school trustees shall be subject to review as provided in Sections 7-6 and 7-7.
Within 10 days after the conclusion of the joint hearing each
regional board of school trustees shall meet and render a decision with
regard to the hearing on the petition. A copy of the final order of each
regional board of school trustees shall be filed with the State Board of
Education within 30 days after the conclusion of the joint
hearing. If the regional board of school trustees in each of those
regions enters an order approving the consolidation, those regions shall
be consolidated into a single educational service region, and the
State Board of Education shall authorize the establishment
of such single educational service region and to notify all interested
parties, including the county clerks of the counties affected thereby
and the State Board of Elections.
(Source: P.A. 88-89.)
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