Newspaper Clippings for
July, 1960
from the pages of the Waukegan Sun 7 July 1960
JOIN BROWE SCHOOL TO MILLBURN
Twilight For Old District
WADSWORTH - An integral part of the history of education in Lake
County was brought to a close Tuesday night, when the County Board
of School Trustees voted to annex century old Browe School
District 16, to Millburn School District 24.
The move, third of its kind in the past year by the trustees, is
part of an overall plan to eliminate many of the small, one and
two room school districts and combine them with others to provide
a sounder financial basis for operation.
The Browe school on Mill Creek road, northwest of Wadsworth has
been in continuous operation (though remodeled from time to time,)
since it was built in 1859. A previous school had existed on the
same grounds, though farther from the road.
The school was named for William Browe, who donated the land for
the school grounds. Its existence for years depended on his
niece, Mary N. Browe, who taught for 45 years beginning in 1878,
when she was 17.
PRIOR DEFEAT
A previous move to eliminate Browe School District by merging it
with Newport Community Consolidated School District 11 was
defeated in 1956. That action came after circuit Judge Bernard
Decker ordered the trustees to hold hearings on the
annexation.
The Trustees then put the matter before the voters who turned it
down by a vote of 66 to 48.
The Board's move annexing the Browe district to Millburn came
after a joint petition was filed by the two districts about a
month and a half ago, seeking such action.
Paul M. Neal, president of the school board of the now extinct
Browe district, said 24 students are at Browe school and 60 at
Millburn. He said plans are to use both schools for the next
year.
However, the Millburn District has an option on land that borders
the dividing line between the two districts, and it is planned
that a new school will be built on these premises, he added.
He added that the merger will mean an overall lower tax rate for
residents of the joint district, and pointed out a school is
needed because neither of the present ones have passed fire
regulations, and both are using basement classrooms, which is also
illegal.
Members of the Millburn School Board included William H. Paulsen,
president; Donald Truax, secretary; George DeYoung, Lawrence D.
Snell, Roy Bonner, Howard J. Bonner and John Thain, trustees.
County Superintendent of Schools W. C. Petty said yesterday that
he expects other such mergers in the near future.
