St. Clair County offers 200 more acres for NGA
St. Clair County is offering the National Geospacial Intelligence Agency (NGA) an additional 200 acres of land north of Scott Air Force Base to accommodate future expansion, should the high-tech spy agency select the county’s proposed Metro-East site for its new NGA West facility. The county had already offered the agency a 182-acre tract of farmland between I-64 and base for the new installation. The NGA is schedule to select from among four proposed St. Louis area sites early next year. (Image courtesy St. Clair County/The Hauser Group)

Superintends call for school funding based on need

Superintendents from at least eight Metro-East school districts are calling on the Illinois State Board of Education to help change the state school funding formula and provide more money for education in low income areas.

The superintendents, as well as other representatives from the districts, testified during a Nov. 12 public hearing on the 2017 Illinois budget, convened by the state school board at the in the Granite City High School Atrium.

The district officials – members of an organization known as Funding Illinois’ Future – called for the enactment of the Illinois School Funding Reform Act (SB 1), introduced by Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) to revise the funding formula.

Under the legislation, education dollars would be distributed based both on the unique needs of a district’s students and the ability of a community to financially support its school district.

“This ensures state dollars will be directed where they are the most needed,” according to the Funding Illinois’ Future website.

The bill would also consolidate 90 percent of state education funding under a single distribution formula, making it easier for taxpayer to track where dollars go, according to the organization.

An early version of the bill has been approved by state senators but the legislation has yet to win approval in Illinois House.

The State School Board has so far not taken a position on the measure.

The legislation would be particularly important to some Metro-East school districts, which already have some of the highest property taxes and some of the lowest assessed property valuations in the state, minimizing the prospects for additional revenue generation at the local level, the superintendents say.

Metro-East school districts represented at the hearing included: Alton, East St. Louis, Granite City, Cahokia, Collinsville, Carlinville, Jacksonville and the  Southwestern Consolidated School District in the Brighton-Shipman area. Superintendents from Harrisburg, Pana and Taylorville also attended the hearing.

Allegiant announces new flights from Mid America to Florida

Allegiant Airlines has announced it will begin offering year-around, nonstop service between Mid America Airport, near Mascoutah, and Punta Gorda Airport, near Ft. Myers, FL, early next year.

Flights, mostly on Airbus A320 aircraft with 177 seats, are scheduled to begin Feb. 18, with twice-weekly service on Thursdays and Sundays. Allegiant anticipates around 30,000 passengers each year on the new route,

The Ft. Myers area will be the fourth destination served by Allegiant through Mid America. The Las Vegas-based discount carrier just this month resumed flights between the St. Clair County airport, adjacent to Scott Air Force Base, and the airline’s hometown. Allegiant already offered flights from Mid America to two Florida airports: Orlando-Stanford International and St. Pete-Clearwater International. four miles north of St. Petersburg.

The announcement of the new route, during a Nov. 18 news conferences at Mid America, comes amid renewed controversy over the cost of the county-owned, jointly-used, civilian-military annex to the Air Force base. Critics say the $313 facility, opened in 1997, has so far cost  local tax  payers $100 million. The airports has often been without regularly scheduled commercial air traffic.

Alton schools avert strike

The Alton Board of Education voted unanimously Nov. 17 to ratify a two-year labor contract with the Alton Education Association (AEA) – ending the threat of a planned teachers strike. The AEA, the labor union representing Alton public school teachers, ratified the contract by a narrow margin Nov. 12.  District teachers filed a 10-day notice of intent to strike back on Oct. 27.  The new contract was developed with the assistance of the same federal mediator who helped end the recent East St. Louis teachers strike. The contract runs through the end of the 2016-17 school year.

Tracks under recently built bridge not abandoned, railroad contends.

The CSX Railroad plans to temporarily discontinue use of its tracks through O’Fallon, according to a notice published Nov. 16 in the Belleville News-Democrat.  However, railroad officials say they do not plan to permanently abandon the track. St. Clair County completed construction of a $6.8 million highway bridge over the tracks just three year. The St. Louis-based organization TrailNet has expressed interest in converting the railroad right-of-way to a bicycle path, under its Rails to Trails program, should CSX permanently idle the tracks.

Sanitary district president resigns

Metro-East Sanitary District Commission President Andy Economy resigned Nov 18, a few hours before the Madison County Board was scheduled to vote on removing him. Economy has acknowledged that district vehicles were repaired at the auto body shop he owns in Madison over the past three year; however, he denies any conflict of interest, noting he did not participate in a board votes on the repair work and repair reimbursements are determined by the district’s insurer. Economy was a member of the board for two decades.

Storm leaves town without electricity

The entire city of Mascoutah was left without electricity for about 20 minutes as storms moved through the area Nov. 17.  High winds downed or arched power lines.  However, service was stored across town by 9 p.m., according to city officials.

–Metro East Area News Briefs–