Number of schools 37 | ||
Springfield School District No. 186, known as Springfield Public Schools (SPS), is a unit school district in Sangamon County, Illinois. Its territory includes the city of Springfield, Illinois.
The school system was formed in 1854 by state statute, granting the city of Springfield a school charter with power exercised by the Springfield city council. In 1869 the charter was amended to devolve power to a nine-person school board appointed by the city council. As a result of Springfield having over 35,000 population in the 1910 Census, state law caused the nine-person board to be replaced with a seven-person board of education elected by the public, starting in April 1911.
During the turn of the century, the district had operated a teachers training school for 32 years.