Manar secures funding for North Mac consolidation reimbursement

SPRINGFIELD – A three-year-old bill stemming from the 2010 merger of the Girard and Virden school districts into the North Mac School District will soon be paid thanks to funding secured by State Senator Andy Manar (D–Bunker Hill).

Manar included the money in a supplemental spending plan, House Bill 6060, passed by the General Assembly June 9. Also in the plan is an increase in funding to help cover the costs associated with voluntary school consolidations. Manar ensured $81,000 was set aside to pay the North Mac bill.

“The state should live up to its promise and pay for its share of the North Mac consolidation project,” Manar said. “I promised Superintendent Cullen and school board members at a town hall meeting last April that I would do whatever I could to make sure the State paid the overdue bill.”