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School Consolidation Among Top Local Stories
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's how 2012 could be described for two local school districts.

A proposed three-way consolidation between the Abingdon, Avon, and Bushnell-Prairie City School Distrticts failed in the March primary election, but then Abingdon and Avon worked together, and that consolidation effort in the November election was overwhelmingly successful.

But back in March, one of the lead backers of an anti-consolidation campaign called "Just Say No" -- John Oakman -- told WGIL the three-way consolidation defeat was a win for the kids.

"Right from the start we were concerned with teenage kids driving up and down this highway 50 miles a day to school and it was just an accident waiting to happen," says Oakman.

The "Just Say No" group said a Committee of 10's work on the three-way consolidation was "unnecessary." Committee chair Jerry Arthur told WGIL in March that's not true.

"We felt this was an opportunity, a call to give back to the community," says Arthur. "I've enjoyed living here off and on for a number of years and I thought this was an opportunity to give back for something the board wanted to give information on, and I think we've done that in a very thorough way."

Again, since then, a two-way consolidation has proven successful. The new Abingdon/Avon School Board was seated in November, and has been working to meet a July first deadline of having everything ready to go -- including hiring administrators and teachers.

The consolidation effort was one of our top local stories of 2012, and is the final one in our series this season.
01 05 13 by Newsroom
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