IS TWELVE-GRADE 

 SCHOOL UNIT BEST 

 FOR OUR CHILDREN? 



lAA Schools Director Points Out 

 Advantages in Combining Grade 

 And High Sdtool Boards — 

 Economy, More and Better Equipment, 

 Special Teachers, Greater Flexibility, 

 and a Better Balanced Program 



THE school boards of several new 

 community unit school districts 

 have apparently been led to be- 

 lieve that there is something very 

 unusual and different about a 12- 

 erade district, that the change requires 

 fancy jobs, business agents, extra secre- 

 taries and other costly non-essentials. 

 Some extra help may be needed in a 

 very large district, say of county size, 

 but patrons should expect the main ad- 

 vantages of the 12-grade unit to come 

 from the broader, more equitable tax 

 base and the greater flexibility and co- 

 ordination inherent in the unit district. 

 Some of those advantages and pos- 

 sibilities are of a cooperative nature 

 such as a more practical and fuller use 

 of buildings, equipment, special teach- 

 ers, health and recreational services. 



Other advantages come from the fact 

 that the curricula and extra curricula 

 programs in all the schools in the dis- 

 trict will be coordinated so that all 8th 

 grade graduates enter high school with 

 approximately equal training and op- 

 portunities. Also, the same text-books 

 will be used over the entire district. 



Balanced Program 



The overall supervision of the unit 

 district also provides an opportunity 

 to balance the entire 12 grade pro- 

 gram by strengthening the grade school 

 that is suffering from a severe teacher 

 shortage and has been unable to recruit 

 sufficient replacements. Under the 12 

 grade district it would be possible to 

 reward teachers of equal training, ex- 

 perience, and responsibility equally. 

 Then weaknesses in pupil preparation 

 that show up in high school — English, 

 nuthcmatics, etc. — can be traced back 



28 



under one supervision into the grade 

 school and corrected. 



Economies 



There may be some economy in the 

 unit district not possible in the dual 

 system. Experience in other states as 

 well as in Illinois all indicate that the 

 taxpayer gets more for his dollar in the 

 12 grade district. Top heavy admin- 

 istrative costs can nullify any financial 

 advantage the 12 grade district should 

 normally enjoy from economies or 

 from additional state aid to the unit 

 district. 



Organization of Unit District 



Briefly, the organization personnel 

 of a unit district consists of the super- 

 intendent, various grade school and 

 high Khool principals and teachers. 

 The superintendent's job is one of 

 overall supervision of course of study, 

 activities, correlation and supervision 

 of all units of instruction, pupil trans- 

 portation, and head executive officer 

 of the board and public relations repre- 

 sentative in the district. He carries out 

 the policy established by the board. 

 In many of the smaller unit districts 

 he will also be principal of the high 

 school. 



The principals over the various 

 schools will handle enrollment, disci- 

 pline, the extra curricular programs 

 and eligibilitv of players, supervise 

 teachers, handle office records of that 

 particular school, supervise hot lunch 



By JOHN K. COX, Diroctor 



lAA Iwral Sdieol R«lati«M ^^ 



programs, and generally administei 

 that school unit. Most of them will 

 also have teaching responsibilities as 

 well. However, they are relieved of being 

 the main contact between the school and 

 the school board. 



The teachers in a 12 grade unit 

 occupy about the same position as be- 

 fore. 



Delay Building — iWodeit 

 Structures 



The soundest advice to school boards 

 in new 12 grade districts seems to be 

 to go slow and study the possibilities 

 for making the most of the inherent ad- 

 vantages of the 12 grade unit. A few 

 buildings may be closed the first year, 

 but the people should be assured that 

 their children will be well provided 

 for. It seems wise to urge against 

 building new buildings and floating 

 big bond issues in these high cost 

 times. Most of these bonds are paid 

 off over a 20 year period which may 

 extend over very lean years with lower 

 assessed valuations and increasing tax 

 delinquencies. If some building is 

 necessary, modest housing seems to be 

 more in keeping with common sense. 



Consolidate Sentiments In 

 Community 



During the first year or two of the 

 unit district the administration and 

 school board might well concentrate on 

 welding the district together in com- 

 mon interests and loyahies. This can 

 be done by various devices including an 

 all district open-house where parents 

 are invited to see the school actually in 



(ConliHutJ on page M) 



L A. A. BECORD 



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