By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – Unit 5 School Superintendent Mark Daniel would like to see more cooperation with District 87, but he says it’s up to the community whether to revive merger discussions.

During his State of the District address Wednesday night, Daniel indicated he would like to see more joint ventures with District 87.

Later, when asked for specifics, Daniel suggested Unit 5 and District 87 might work together on bus service and professional development training.

Daniel noted the two districts are already working together to deal with students who have severe behavior problems.

“Those are ideas that need to be discussed and then do they come to fruition? I hope they do, because I think they’re doing some amazing things, we’re doing some amazing things, we share that expertise and overall we have a better product,” Daniel explained.

Merging the two into a single school district has been a volatile topic over the decades. A 1996 merger referendum failed, led by overwhelming opposition from Unit 5 voters. District 87 voters were strongly in favor of the idea.

Meantime, Daniel also recommended creation of a liaison committee to open communication lines with the Bloomington City Council. It would be similar to the recently established committee made up Unit 5 board members and the Normal Town Council.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].