CLAFLIN — The USD 112 Board of Education voted 5-1 to close Wilson Elementary School at the end of the current school year during a special meeting Feb. 23. The meeting was held at the Central Plains Jr./Sr. High School gym.

The board sat around a semicircle of tables on the gym floor and passed a microphone back and forth. Those at the tables were board members Tamara Dody, District 3, Claflin; Chad Rogers, District 7 at-large; Kayla Cullens, District 1 Wilson; Joshua Hurley, District 5, Bushton; Allison Gonzalez, District 4 Holyrood; and Dalton Wirth, District 6 Claflin. The seat representing District 2, Dorrance remains vacant after former board member Cherilee Ward declined to run as a writein candidate in December, leaving that district without representation.

Also at the tables were Superintendent Bobby Murphy and Board Clerk Diane Nye.

The meeting began with Dody addressing the board.

“Tonight, we are here to discuss the information from the last several months regarding Wilson Elementary and the possible action for the future,” she said.

Dody cited declining enrollment numbers and surveys taken at a public information meeting in Wilson before turning the meeting over to Murphy, who began by reading the Kansas State statute pertaining to the closing of a school, KSA 72-1431 (see full statute, page A5).

He read sections a-d. At this point Murphy stopped to add, “This next part is fairly new, so I want to go over it in detail in case there are any questions.”

(e) The state board of education shall conduct an administrative review of a resolution adopted pursuant to this section if the state board receives a request for administrative review signed by at least 5% of the registered voters of such school district who are dissatisfied with such resolution not later than 45 days after the adoption of such resolution. Such request shall be made in such form and manner as prescribed by the state board of education. Upon receipt of any such request, the state board of education shall review the resolution to determine the reasonableness thereof. Not later than 45 days after receipt of any such request, the state board shall issue an advisory determination to the school district that states whether the school district’s resolution is reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. Such advisory determination may include recommendations regarding modifying or rescinding the resolution. If the state board receives more than one request for administrative review on the same school district resolution, the state board may dismiss any requests received after the initial request or combine such requests with the initial request.

(f ) Upon receipt of an advisory determination issued pursuant to subsection (e), including any advisory determination that the resolution is reasonable, the board of edu-

“When you lose a school, you’re not just losing a building, you lose families, you lose jobs, you lose the economic impact that it has on a community, and by closing down Wilson Elementary, that will be two schools in three years in that community, and that’s a tough hit.”

Kayla Cullins

USD 112 Board of Education member cation of such school district shall reconsider such resolution. In reconsidering such resolution, the board of education shall hold a public hearing in accordance with the provisions of subsections (c) and (d) and may approve, modify and approve or rescind such resolution upon the conclusion of such hearing.

(g) No resolution adopted pursuant to this section shall be effective until the 45-day time period provided under subsection (e) has elapsed without a request for administrative review.

“So I just want to spend a little time after speaking to Scott Gordon today for KSDE legal council on what that administrative review would look like,” Murphy said.

“Ultimately, it will fall back on your shoulders.

This is their findings. It is nonbinding and it ultimately falls back on USD 112 to decide.

“If the board of education does make a resolution to close the building and it was voted on and passed and there was a petition signed by 5 percent of the voters, it would trigger this administrative review. I would anticipate with the administrative review and finding the declining enrollment numbers factored with the amount of residents who are choosing to transport their elementary students to other districts, coupled with the state proposed public school funding challenges that are coming up, I don’t see any way the administrative review team would deem a closing resolution in this situation to be anything but reasonable. But that’s my opinion. That is not coming from the state board or any of their representatives. Please remember though, if this review does happen, the land transfer conversation will be placed on hold for the duration of the review.”

Murphy opened the topic up for discussion by board members.

Cullens, representing District 1 Wilson, was the first to speak.

She began by mentioning that she joined the board coming off the closure of Wilson High School and it was a very emotional time.

“Coming in to it, I had to believe that the decision was made with the best interest of the district and the students at heart,” Cullens said. “I was extremely, extremely disappointed with some of the actions taken by this board and some of the non-actions — a refusal to look and research for alternatives, or they weren’t presented to me. I know my comments here won’t make any difference.

“Last week Ms.

Schmidt’s comments that the school does not define the community, I extremely and wholeheartedly agree with her, but I think, and I hope, all of you understand the importance that a school has in the community.

They are an important service. They are an important infrastructure. When you lose a school, you’re not just losing a building, you lose families, you lose jobs, you lose the economic impact that it has on a community, and by closing down Wilson Elementary, that will be two schools in three years in that community, and that’s a tough hit.”

Cullens told the board she believes there are other options besides closing WES. She encouraged the board to consider other options.

She encouraged that any motion to close include language to keep items in the Wilson school with the facility.

Dody advised her that language would not be included in the motion due to the formality and specificity of the motion.

Following Cullens, Gonzalez, representing District 4 Holyrood, spoke and proposed the official motion to close WES, effective at the end of the 2025-26 school year in order to move land transfer discussions forward.

“This isn’t a decision that is being made lightly, but one that considers the future of all our communities,” Gonzalez said.

The board voted 5-1 to close the school. The dissenting vote was cast by Cullens.

The next meeting of the USD 112 Board of Education will be 6 p.m.

March 9 at Wilson Elementary School.