Opinion ID: 2112848
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Detachment and Annexation: Overall Benefit

Text: The most typical school boundary changes are the result of the detachment of a portion of school district territory and its annexation to another school district. See C. Russo & R. Mawdsley, Education Law ง 1.04[3], at 1-19 through 1-20 (2008). In Illinois, school district boundaries may be changed by detachment, annexation, division, dissolution, or by any combination of those methods pursuant to article 7 of the School Code. 105 ILCS 5/7-02 (West 2006). The general method for detachment and annexation involves a petition process, administrative hearings, and the potential for judicial review pursuant to the Administrative Review Law (735 ILCS 5/3-101 et seq. (West 2006)). See 105 ILCS 5/7-1, 7-2, 7-6, 7-7 (West 2006). At the administrative hearing on a detachment and annexation petition, section 7-6 of the School Code mandates that the hearing officer: shall hear evidence as to the school needs and conditions of the territory in the area within and adjacent thereto and as to the ability of the districts affected to meet the standards of recognition as prescribed by the State Board of Education, and shall take into consideration the division of funds and assets which will result from the change of boundaries and shall determine whether it is to the best interests of the schools of the area and the educational welfare of the pupils that such change in boundaries be granted   . 105 ILCS 5/7-6(i) (West 2006). Based on the language of section 7-6, a petition for detachment and annexation should be granted only where the overall benefit to the annexing district and the detachment area clearly outweighs the resulting detriment to the losing district and the surrounding community as a whole. Carver v. Bond/Fayette/Effingham Regional Board of School Trustees, 146 Ill.2d 347, 356, 167 Ill.Dec. 1, 586 N.E.2d 1273 (1992) (collecting cases). In applying this benefit-detriment test, the hearing board, and the courts reviewing the board's decision, are to consider differences between school facilities and curricula, the distances from the petitioners' homes to the respective schools, the effect detachment would have on the ability of either district to meet state standards of recognition, and the impact of the proposed boundary change on the tax revenues of both districts. Carver, 146 Ill.2d at 356, 167 Ill.Dec. 1, 586 N.E.2d 1273. The hearing board may also consider the closely related whole child and community of interest factors. The whole child factor recognizes that extracurricular participation in social, religious and even commercial activities is important in a child's development as a beneficial supplement to the child's academic involvement. Board of Education of Golf School District No. 67 v. Regional Board of School Trustees of Cook County, 89 Ill.2d 392, 397, 60 Ill.Dec. 443, 433 N.E.2d 240 (1982). The community of interest factor ascertains whether the petitioning area is identified with the school district and the community to which annexation is requested. If a child attends school in his or her natural community, it not only enhances the child's educational opportunity but encourages the child's participation in social and other extracurricular activities that figure importantly in the whole child concept. Golf, 89 Ill.2d at 397-98, 60 Ill.Dec. 443, 433 N.E.2d 240. Further, consideration of the racial impact of a school district boundary change is relevant to a detachment and annexation proceeding to ensure that a dual school system based upon race, national origin, or color does not result. C. Russo & R. Mawdsley, Education Law ง 1.04[3], at 1-19, 1-20 (2008). See, e.g., In re Petition for Authorization to Conduct a Referendum on the Withdrawal of North Haledon School District from the Passaic County Manchester Regional High School District, 181 N.J. 161, 181-82, 854 A.2d 327, 339 (2004); Union Title Co. v. State Board of Education, 51 Ohio St.3d 189, 192 n. 5, 555 N.E.2d 931, 934 n. 5 (1990). Indeed, it is recognized that Illinois is exceptionally active in detachment proceedings.    A review of Illinois detachment cases over the past two decades indicates that the judicial emphasis is consistently focused on the concepts of the `whole child,' the `community of interests' and `the educational welfare of the students.' J. Menacker, Illinois Detachment Legislation: A Device for Creating Manageable Urban School Districts, 81 Educ. L. Rep. 411, 414-19 (1993). However, in enacting the automatic detachment procedure in section 7-2b of the School Code, the legislature pointedly rejected this well-settled holistic approach.