Virginia school officials are acknowledging that A-C Central has approached the district about the possibility of a future educational partnership.
Virginia CUSD 64 released a statement Thursday evening saying the discussions are preliminary and that no agreement has been reached for A-C Central students to attend Virginia School District.
The district says A-C Central’s board president and superintendent recently contacted Virginia Board President Casey French and Superintendent Mekelle Neathery as A-C Central begins reviewing its options and engaging in strategic planning for the future of its students.
Virginia says its role at this point is simply to determine whether it is appropriate to continue exploring the possibility.
Any potential partnership would have to be studied carefully, including its effect on Virginia students, staffing, transportation, classroom and facility space, finances and existing district partnerships.
Those existing partnerships could be significant.
Virginia currently operates a number of athletic co-ops with Triopia and Meredosia-Chambersburg. Virginia’s athletic department lists Triopia and Meredosia as co-op partners in football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and other activities. The current IHSA cooperative-school listing also shows Triopia, Meredosia-Chambersburg and Virginia together in several sports through 2027.
A-C Central and Virginia also have a history together.
The two districts previously co-oped athletics, including football in the Western Illinois Valley Conference. That relationship ended in 2011 when A-C Central began its current athletic partnership with PORTA.
The A-C Central and PORTA relationship has become increasingly strained in recent months.
The two districts have had an athletic co-op since 2011, and in April they agreed to conduct a feasibility study examining consolidation, deactivation and other possible forms of district reorganization. The study was required under the four-year sports co-op agreement negotiated in 2024, although neither district has committed to consolidation.
Then in June, the relationship deteriorated further.
PORTA’s board voted to dissolve its IHSA football co-op with A-C Central. A-C Central did not agree to the dissolution, saying it has students interested in playing football. Under IHSA rules, both districts must approve the dissolution of an IHSA co-op.
PORTA also argued that ending the football co-op could make the school more competitive by reducing its classification. The district cited low participation numbers and said a standalone PORTA could potentially compete in a lower class.
A-C Central subsequently delayed action on the timeline and funding for the required feasibility study.
And now, A-C Central is apparently looking beyond PORTA.
The possibility of a Virginia partnership is not entirely new. The Journal-Courier reported last October that Virginia and A-C Central had already begun preliminary discussions about potential future cooperation, including academics and athletics. Virginia Superintendent Mekelle Neathery described those conversations at the time as informal and said there were no commitments.
Last night’s statement makes clear that those discussions have not resulted in a deal.
But the timing is significant.
A-C Central has 93 students according to current IHSA enrollment figures, while Virginia has 80. PORTA has 278 students. Triopia has 120, and Meredosia-Chambersburg has 42.
That means the decisions being discussed could have implications far beyond one athletic co-op.
If A-C Central ultimately moves toward Virginia, the existing Virginia-Triopia-Meredosia athletic structure would have to be considered as well.
For now, however, Virginia officials are emphasizing that nothing has been decided.
The district says any proposal of this magnitude would require extensive study, board discussion and community input.
And A-C Central has not publicly announced that it intends to send its students to Virginia.
What is clear is that A-C Central is examining its future — and Virginia is now publicly acknowledging that it has been asked to be part of that conversation.