By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
ELLSWORTH COUNTY —A petition to disorganize the USD 112 Central Plains school district has been filed. The Wilson High School Future Committee asked the USD 112 Board of Education to delay the closure of Wilson High School for one year. With no action regarding the issue taken at Monday's board meeting, the petition was filed with Ellsworth County Tuesday morning.
(Click below to watch Monday's meeting)
Long-time educator Roberta Meier, who helped file the petition, was disappointed the issue was not discussed Monday.
"That was very surreal because, with something this serious and historic, it shows their lack of understanding for what a disorganization is and how it will proceed," she said. "The only discussion was about who would pay for the election and the date."
Disorganization was brought up twice during Monday's board meeting. The body heard from Claflin resident Dave Wirth, who expressed frustration that only three of Wilson's 73 students visited Central Plains High School in Claflin after hearing about the closure in Wilson.
He expressed further concern that voters may be willing to shut down their own elementary school in Wilson, and that no one is quite sure what disorganization would mean for USD 112.
"If you don't have any idea, you better find out, including the board members from Wilson, because I understand you're supporting this," Wirth said. "If you're not, I need to know now whether you are or aren't supporting this petition. Yes or no?"
Board Member Roger Robinson asked Wirth why he needed to know, and said Wirth did not need to know anything about him.
"You're serving a public board?" Wirth asked. "Yes or no?"
Monday's meeting lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours. Late in the meeting, Superintendent Bill Lowry addressed the disorganization petition. He's been in touch with the Ellsworth County clerk's office and the state board of education, but answers about when the matter will be put on a ballot or who will pay for it are still undetermined.
"I just think it's important, if we get to that point, to try to educate all patrons on what 'yes' or 'no' means," Lowry told the board.
On Jan. 9, 2023, the USD 112 Central Plains Board of Education voted 5-2 to close Wilson High School at the close of the 2022-23 school year. The Wilson High School Future Committee was formed in October. The group visited Topeka several times to speak with state legislators about possible solutions. The disorganization petition will put the matter before voters in the district. If approved, the fate of the district would go before the state board of education. Beyond that, answers are few and far between.
"As far as precedence, there is none," Meier said. "When we asked the state how this would all play out and for advice, they just said basically we can ask the questions but there are no answers yet. We took an extra week to try to make sure we were getting this right."