The past year has been a tumultuous one for USD 112 Central Plains.

In January, the school board voted to close Wilson Jr./Sr. High School at the end of the 2022-23 school year. Patrons responded to this decision with a request for a one-year extension, which was denied.

“I think the way it was done was horrible,” Michelle (Staudinger) Brokes said.

Brokes has four children in the Wilson school ranging from preschool to high school. She grew up in the south end of the district and served two terms on the school board.

“I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of the situation, but I don’t take a strong stance one way or the other. However, the school board is not looking out for all the kids in the district,” she said.

Upon learning that the extension was denied, residents of Wilson and Dorrance went a step further. They filed a petition with Ellsworth County in May to dissolve the entire school district.

“I’ve given that a lot of thought. I think it’s a very drastic move,” Brokes said. “When it was first presented, I thought that it was the Wilson/ Dorrance community retaliation and I was totally against it because two wrongs don’t make a right, but no one is looking out for the kids. They are using the school as a tool to fight. This (petition) is to say ‘The situation we are in is so completely dysfunctional and not working for anyone.’” On the other side of the situation are those in the district who see the move for dissolution as a petty counterattack.

Bushton residents Teri and Dennis Zink said they think the school board members are doing the best job they can with a difficult situation, and they think it is a waste of time and school district money. They said some unhappy patrons who haven’t attended any meetings and are only hearing one side of the issue are willing to upset the entire district for their agenda, and they think they should accept the school board decision and move on.

The decision to close the junior/senior high school was made for financial reasons.

According to information released by the district, the closure will save the district $300,000 per year. This information is not lost on many of those fighting for the school’s future.

“Do I think that it is realistic for Wilson to say we have to have a K-12 school forever?

No,” Brokes said. “I think it’s appropriate to have discussions about not having. I think the way it was done was so rotten.

The Wilson people were never a part of the process.

“In a normal consolidation, communities say, ‘We can’t sustain this’ and ‘What’s the best plan moving forward?’ It’s hard, but at least the communities have their voices heard. We’re not unrealistic.”

The district encompasses a large number of communities in five different counties.

Ellsworth is the county on record for the school, but the petition now means that elections will be held in all five counties Aug. 1. The votes will be cast by qualified electors of the district in each county. With more than just Wilson at stake, a number of people have voiced their displeasure with the vote.

“The petition was thrown out early on, seemingly as an attempt to intimidate the BOE.

However, the facts support the decision that has been made,” said Stephanie Petermann, who lives between Holyrood and Claflin and has two students in the district. “Declining enrollment in the WHS building has led to over a 50 percent loss of students in the 7-12 grades since USD 112 was formed. Filing the petition certainly feels like a vindictive move to inflict pain on the rest of the district since they are experiencing pain. At this point though, the intent behind filing the petition is irrelevant. I think it is important to help educate the voters and get them to show up to vote.”

This scenario is new territory. While disorganizations have occurred in Kansas, this is the first time community members have called for one.

Michael Kratky, a graduate of Wilson High School, doesn’t have children who attend the school, however, he felt compelled to fight for its future after receiving a phone call from a former lunchroom employee of the school.

“I’d been out of the loop until last spring when she called,” he said. “She’s 102 years old and she said ‘I want you to do something and you can’t say no — I want you to save the school.’” Kratky has been to school board meetings, spoken with school officials and even spoken at hearings held in the state capitol twice.

“I just don’t feel like it’s time to close. It’s the newest high school in the district and community growth is up 15 percent. I just didn’t see the logic in closing it now,” he said.

Kratky admits that the closure would save the district $300,000, but counters that the closure of Claflin Jr./Sr. High School would save $800,000.

“The math just doesn’t work; they had an agenda,” he said. “Our enrollment has been constant.

On our side, we felt it was the only way for us to survive. Our future is outside of 112, so we were willing to put everything on the line to get out of the district. It wasn’t our first choice.

We tried everything.”

In rural Kansas, when a district is spread so far and wide, communities can feel as though their opinions are not being heard and taken into consideration.

“The USD 112 BOE is comprised of locallyelected officials who were elected by patrons in our district, and as such, represent the variety of perspectives from across our large district,” said Alisha Koch, a resident of Holyrood who has three children in the district.

“They have volunteered for a thankless job and have willingly put themselves in roles that can receive a lot of criticism.

The extremely tough decisions that have been made are not easy for some to accept, but I genuinely believe they are in the best interest of the USD 112 students.”

At the end of the special election, if the votes are tallied and the majority vote against the disorganization, Wilson Jr./Sr. High School will remain closed. For the most part, the rest of the district will continue with business as usual, but the students who attended the school will have a decision ahead of them.

Under normal circumstances, they would attend Central Plains Jr./ Sr. High School in Claflin, but due to state legislation, they have the option to choose to go elsewhere if enrollment can accommodate them.

“We’ve already made this choice. Going to Central Plains does not make sense,” Brokes said.

“Our (WJSHS) families have literally split between four schools.

We’ve already had to make the choice of what our future education looks like. I want my tax dollars to be represented in a school district that works for me, and that will be Sylvan Grove.”

If at the end of the day the majority vote yes, the state will step in as the controlling entity and the individual schools would be available for other districts to absorb.

For those in favor of the dissolution, the future is full of possibility.

“A yes vote would give us an opportunity with another district to remain open,” Kratky said. “A reorganized district will decide on us staying open. It doesn’t close schools. If it passes, it’s not about Claflin, it’s about the five on the board who wanted to close us.”

For those with students outside of Wilson, they see dark times ahead. Many parents are not willing to have their children attend a school at which the future is so up in the air. Not to mention the staff at these schools.

“I am absolutely sick about the upcoming vote and that we are having to go through all of it in the first place,” Jessie Habiger said. “I’ll lose my job at the school, my kids will not get to go to school with their friends, as Bushton doesn’t have a school in their town to hypothetically keep open and the school districts we’d get assigned to by the state will most likely be Lyons or Chase. My kids will then be on a bus for at least 30 minutes most likely and going to a school where they probably won’t know any peers or staff.”

Habiger, a resident of Bushton, is a parent with two children in Central Plains Elementary School and is a para at the school.

“With a yes vote there is a good chance I’ll be moving back home to where I grew up and allowing my kids to go to school in a school district of my choice, not the state’s choosing,” she said. “This will then cause my husband to have to choose to stay here and keep farming on the family farm (making our family be split) or moving back with us and leaving behind his legacy.”

In the end, whether bright or bleak, the future is in the hands of the voters. The special election ballot question will read: “Shall the following be adopted? Shall USD 112 be disorganized pursuant to K.S.A. 72-635 to pursue attachment to another school district or organization of the schools therein in anyway provided by law?

“To vote in favor of any question submitted on this ballot, darken the oval to the left of the word ‘Yes.’ To vote against it, darken the oval to the left of the word ‘No.’” Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Aug.

1. Deadline to register to vote is July 11.

“This is not a move of spite, not a retaliation,” Brokes said. “This has gotten out of hand. This is not functioning for anybody. It is time to split. The education in 112 has suffered greatly, and I think it’s because all we’re doing is fighting. The kids are suffering.

It’s time to end.”

Not everyone is of the same mindset, and the vote will show the majority line of thinking, as long as people are willing to go out and cast their vote.

“A no vote is what ultimately will save our schools. A no vote will retain a school in all of our communities. A no vote will allow all elementary school students in Wilson to remain in their own town and not have to be bussed to a different district,” Koch said. “A no vote will allow my children to stay in their current school buildings. The goal has never been to close all grades in Wilson. The goal is to keep schools in all of our communities.”

“Filing the petition certainly feels like a vindictive move to inflict pain on the rest of the district since they are experiencing pain. At this point though, the intent behind filing the petition is irrelevant. I think it is important to help educate the voters and get them to show up to vote.”

Stephanie Petermann

USD 112 patron who lives between Holyrood and Claflin

“Our enrollment has been constant.

On our side, we felt it was the only way for us to survive. Our future is outside of 112, so we were willing to put everything on the line to get out of the district. It wasn’t our first choice. We tried everything.”

Michael Kratky

Wilson High School alumni