The Catlin and Jamaica school districts could create a three-year pilot program for a cooperative school, thanks to new legislation.

While school officials are pleased, they said a lot of discussion must take place before a decision on whether to pursue that is made.

"I don't know what we're going to do," Catlin Superintendent Gary Lewis said Wednesday, after learning that Gov. Pat Quinn signed the legislation the day before. "I would be afraid of doing something and not getting any money from the state, and then (both districts) would be trying to figure out how to pay for this."

The legislation allows two contiguous school districts to pilot a cooperative elementary and/or high school. It was sponsored by Reps. Bill Black, R-Danville, and Shane Cultra, R-Onarga, and Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign.

Black proposed the measure so that Catlin High School students could attend Jamaica High School, and Jamaica junior high school students, and possibly sixth-graders, could attend Catlin Junior High without either district losing any state aid they receive for their junior high students.

Originally, school officials explored building a new, centrally-located cooperative high school for the Catlin, Jamaica and Oakwood districts. Construction costs for that project were estimated at more than $20 million, and officials hoped to finance it with school construction money from the state.

However, no one believes that money is coming anytime soon, given Illinois' financial crisis and the economy.

Catlin and Jamaica officials then began discussing a cooperative, in which they would use their existing buildings. The two districts already participate in a cooperative sports program.

"This was an idea to help both schools survive the funding problem until the economy turns around," Jamaica school board President Ron Metzger said. He said officials estimated that together, the districts could save $400,000 to $450,000 in personnel and other costs each year.

Last year, Catlin High had about 175 students, while the grade school had about 375 K-8 students. Jamaica High had about 125 students, and the grade school had about 320 K-8 students.

"You'd have more kids in each class," Metzger said, adding some high school classes had only a handful of students. "But you could offer more classes. There are subjects, like foreign language, that we only offer two years. With a cooperative, you could offer them three or four years."

The Catlin and Jamaica boards have held preliminary discussions separately and together a couple of times, Lewis said. In early discussions, Metzger said, officials looked at sending Catlin's high schoolers to Jamaica as that facility could accommodate a larger group without needing any changes. They also looked at remodeling the Catlin High School gymnasium, which also houses agriculture classrooms and a band room, to house all of the junior high students and possibly sixth-graders.

Lewis said his district wouldn't be able to foot those costs without help from the state. While the cooperative districts may be eligible for some stabilization costs, "I don't have a lot of faith that we would actually receive anything," he said.

He pointed out that the state owes his district $160,000, and officials are currently projecting a $300,000 to $400,000 budget deficit this year. Metzger isn't any more confident, saying the state owes Jamaica more than $200,000.

"You know they're not going to give you any extra money when they're not even meeting their obligations to the schools now," he said. "But (the legislation) is a little more encouraging. It does give us that option. I'm sure both schools will continue to discuss and plan so that if and when any money is available, we'll be able to go forward with it if both of our districts are in agreement."

If school officials decide to pursue the matter, a proposal for the cooperative school would have to be put on the ballot and approved by voters in the Catlin and Jamaica districts.

Both Lewis and Metzger said they expected their respective boards will reopen discussions on the matter at their August meetings.