Referendum on ballot to close Paw Paw High School

PAW PAW – A referendum on Tuesday’s ballot asks voters whether the school district should deactivate Paw Paw High School and send its 60 or so students to Indian Creek High School as soon as next school year.

In March, the two schools agreed to a 2-year sports co-op that started in the fall; that led to talks of merging Paw Paw’s high schoolers with Indian Creek’s about 10 miles away in Shabbona.

The districts hired consultants Robert Lagerblade and Ray Bergles to study the feasibility of such a move, and they came back with findings in June.

“The consultants believe the high school combination of Paw Paw High School and Indian Creek High School by the proposed deactivation of Paw Paw High School should definitely be considered,” the study said.

Indian Creek, with about 206 students compared to Paw Paw’s 63, has a much wider range of courses and a bigger budget with more constant fund growth.

“The number of elective courses, for all students, particularly in the vocational area would be increased,” the study states. “There will be additional electives for Paw Paw students in English, art, mathematics, science, and social studies.”

The Paw Paw school district would pay Indian Creek $10,000 per student as well as cover transportation costs, and Indian Creek would absorb one teacher.

The building at 511 Chapman St. also houses the elementary and middle schools, and so would remain open.

In September, Mendota High School made an unsolicited offer to take in the students at $6,000 per student, absorb transportation costs for the south half of the Paw Paw district and its special education costs.

The district committed to considering the merger with Indian Creek and will wait for the referendum results before looking at other districts.

The decision to put the question before voters was decided by the school board, 4-2, in August.

According to a board statement:

“The board takes no official position on the referendum regarding Indian Creek, and has provided all of the information to the community it has available. We encourage community members to educate themselves and to vote. Individual board member’s opinions are their own and may or may not reflect those opinions of other board members.”