left to right 1st row - Cheryl Marshall, Kasey Canode Sheley, Jane Marshall and Robin Marshall Canode
left to right 2nd row - Ryan Marshall, Tom Canode, Justin Sheley and Jim Marshall and not pictured Jessi Marshall

August 24, 2011

The Dixon Public Schools are extremely excited and pleased to announce the generous gift that the Marshall and Canode families are donating to the District.

The families have joined together to donate to the school district their commercial buildings located on Palmyra Road in Dixon. The commercial buildings consist of 2 warehouses and office spaces.

The wish for this gift is that it be developed into a Sports and Activity Complex that will benefit the students and families of the Dixon School District.

In addition to the generous gift, the families have also committed to donating 83 acres of adjoining land to the school district as the site for a new high school. The conveyance of the 83 acres would not occur until January of 2017, in which time the school district would have almost 12 years, until December 31, 2028, to develop a legally binding plan for the school to be built. If the District does not commit to building a high school on this site, the offer to gift the 83 acres would expire.

“As a school district, we are overwhelmed by the generosity of these families”, exclaimed Board President, Mr. Tom Balser, “it is so fitting that on the first day of a new school year, we can open a new chapter of the Dixon Public Schools.”

He added, “This is an exciting day and a wonderful way to begin the start of school for the 142^nd time. The timeline the Marshall and Canode families have put in place allows for possibilities to be explored and options to be developed. The District has recently completed the application to be considered for State Construction Grants and having a building site does make the District’s application more appealing to the grant reviewers. The District also realizes that the State is 8 years behind in funding those grants, but if there is a chance to be funded, we want to make sure we have completed the process.

The Board has a long list of items to complete before anything can be done and one of the top items on the list includes involving the public and seeking their input. The District has a lot to do, but the benefits will be lasting for our students and our community.”