NORMAL - State Farm Insurance Cos. will lend an employee to Bloomington District 87 and Normal-based Unit 5 for one year to work on the school districts' joint Achievement Gap Task Force.

Tom Laxton, community education leader in State Farm's public affairs division, will start his new job on Monday.

He will work full time for the task force, which includes the school districts and various community groups, but be paid by State Farm.

Task force leadership

Laxton will provide full-time staff leadership to the task force and work to connect community resources to fill the needs of the districts, said Unit 5 spokeswoman Dayna Brown.

"I will work on their behalf in the community where they see the need," he said of the districts' superintendents.

The task force was created because test scores and other measures of academic success show disparities among student populations divided mainly along racial and socioeconomic lines.

"The two school districts have been doing a great job and closing the achievement gap," Laxton said. He acknowledges there is more to do, however.