CLAFLIN — A motion to give the Wilson community another year before closing Wilson Jr./Sr. High School failed 5-2 at Monday’s meeting of the USD 112 Central Plains board of education.

The two yes votes were cast by board members Brad Schiermeyer and Roger Robinson.

During public forum, Kenny Beneda, spokesman for a group of concerned Wilson residents, said a similar group was presenting information at another school district that evening about the closing of WJSHS and a possible land transfer with that district. The district was later identified as USD 401 Chase-Raymond.

“There is also another significant interest from the Salina Diocese to have a Catholic school in Wilson,” he said.

Beneda said the Wilson community is asking the USD 112 board to grant them another year to work out the details of several proposals.

“Please give us a chance to make this possible,” he said.

“As Kenny mentioned, there are still things in the works and pursuing options for the Wilson land transfer and other items like that,” Schiermeyer said.“We received an email, as a board, from a member of the state board of education asking us to consider giving one more year for Wilson to try to figure out a plan, and so, Wilson as a community, and myself, would like to ask for that year extension.”

Schiermeyer said the biggest issue he has is two-fold.

“One, obviously, living in the community of Wilson, I have concerns of what that is going to do to the community and school,” he said.“My other concern is that as a school board member of the district, we’ve heard about the possibility of a petition, but just even not thinking about those things, my concern is how this district is going to survive in the current configuration that we’re looking at being in. If we don’t get a land transfer done and we have either just the elementary school up there in a building designed for K-12 and using half a building, or we lose the majority of our students on the Wilson side of the district.”

Schiermeyer said a third of the district would mean it would be very difficult for USD 112 to get any bond issue passed.

“It’s already difficult,” he said, “and I don’t see a bond issue getting passed in that case. And the buildings we have in the district are going to need it — they need it now — so that is a very big concern for me and the district as a whole. So, I think we need to take every opportunity that we can to mitigate that, and I think figuring out the land transfer or something equivalent would help that.”

“We need to have a little more time to plan,” Robinson said. “The petition is on the county attorney’s desk and the county clerk to dissolve (the district), it just hasn’t been submitted yet.”

Robinson said the way it has been explained to him is that if a required number of signatures are collected on the petition, then voters in the district would vote on whether or not to dissolve the district. If the majority of voters are in favor of dissolving the district, then it would go back to the state board of education for their input and their direction.

“And then they would assign Wilson to whatever district and then Holyrood and Claflin down here,” Robinson added. “All the schools would be involved; you dissolve the district.”

Robinson said he was told that hasn’t been done since 1960.

“So, there’s not much precedent to do that,” he said. “There’s not a lot of direction.”

“I think the idea is it’s a method if the constituents don’t feel like the board has the best interests; it gives them the ability to make that decision,” Schiermeyer added. “The majority.”

“We don’t deny there are challenges, but I’m hearing there are also some opportunities that sound pretty positive from Barton County being interested in also utilizing some of the building space up there,” Board President Tamara Dody said.

Schiermeyer said he struggles with the matter because there are zero answers on the Wilson side about what the plan is for the future.

“Currently, in the way it stands, we’re closing a building this next year, and we’ve had zero discussion as a board what that means,” Schiermeyer said. “How do we handle that? What does that mean? What does it mean if we lose 115 kids? There has been zero discussion on any of that, and it’s March. It’s frustrating because as a school board, it’s our responsibility to look into the future.”

“Did we have a clue when we closed Bushton?”

Board Vice President Joshua Hurley asked. “Did we have a clue how many kids we’d lose?”

Hurley said the board did talk about the future. “But even if we keep Wilson in here, we’re going to have to talk about the future,” he said. “It just might not be to the extreme that everybody wants.”

Schiermeyer said he wasn’t arguing what the board has already approved.

“I’m just saying my concern is that we’re four months away from the new school year starting and we don’t know,” he said.

“I don’t know if we will know,” Hurley said, “because you can’t guarantee me that one kid is coming or 120 kids are coming, so our discussion is as much as we (know) every month. But until that time comes, of guaranteed enrollment, we can talk until our face turns blue and it’s going to be different Aug. 15 when the first day of school comes.”

In other business:

• The board did a first reading on seven policies for the district. These ranged from non-school employment to suspension/expulsion procedures. A second reading will take place in April, along with recommended action.

• The 2023-24 school calendar was approved. Superintendent Bill Lowry said the biggest difference this year is the last day of each semester will be a half-day of school instead of a full day.

• By consensus, the purchase of a new bus was tabled for 30 days so Lowry could get more information.

• After a 20-minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel, the resignation of Sabrina Bourbon as second grade teacher and reading specialist at Wilson School was approved, as were the resignations of Cheryl Montoya, head cook at Central Plains Elementary School in Holyrood and Beth Ptacek, librarian at Wilson School.

The supplemental position of Glen Law as junior high track coach at Wilson for the 2022-23 season was approved and the certified staff positions of Toby Holmes as driver’s education teacher for the district this summer and Courtney Shamburger as vocational agriculture teacher at CPJSHS were approved.

The next regular meeting of the Central Plains USD 112 board of education will be at 6 p.m. Monday, April 10, at the district office in Claflin.

“Please give us a chance to make this possible.”

Kenny Beneda

Spokesman for a group of concerned Wilson residents