There’s more news about the Palmyra-Eagle School District since a state advisory board voted (6-1) against the dissolution of that district. The policy lessons are valuable to many places, including Whitewater. (Earlier posts opposing dissolution appear at the end of this post.)
Motions Before the School District Boundary Appeal Board on 1.9.20. Motion 1 (Motion to Deny) and Motions 2-4 (dissolution options, not acted on as the Motion to Deny was approved).
Unsubstantiated Savings. Although some proponents of dissolution have argued that dissolution would have worked a cost-saving overall, they’ve shown no persuasive analysis to support that contention. Nothing about dissolution would have caused a discharge of prior obligations or indebtedness, and a reallocation of obligations for past expenditures and ongoing public education is markedly different from a reduction in costs. (This is especially true overall — Mukwonago and her state representative strongly dissolution, but the effects of dissolution would not have been confined to that one district and her politician-advocate.)
Very few small communities in this area see well-considered studies on economic policy. There’s a lot of guessing, estimating, supposing, etc. – but back-of-the-envelope conjecture cheats residents of the solid standard that America can and should meet. A headline is not an analysis.
A New Board for Palmyra-Eagle. One reads that (unsurprisingly) Nearly half of the Palmyra-Eagle school board quits following the ruling that the district won’t dissolve:
Three of the seven members of the Palmyra-Eagle Area School Board, including the president and vice president, have resigned following the state’s denial of the district’s dissolution attempt.
School board president Scott Hoff, vice president Tara Bollmann and clerk Carrie Ollis announced their resignations at the Jan. 14 board meeting, effective at the end of the meeting.
The resignations come five days after the School District Boundary Appeal Board, a panel made up of school board members from around the state, denied the district’s dissolution by a 6-1 vote.
….
Hoff said one of the reasons he stepped down is because during the SDBAB’s hearing process, a member of a citizens group came forward and said a community member was willing to give $100,000 in matching donations to help the district if the current school board would step down.
“They need the money far more than they need me,” Hoff said.
One can be sure that about this, if little else, Hoff is right.
Previously: (1) On the Dissolution of the Palmyra-Eagle School District, Reason Carries the Day, (2) Educational (Among Other) Uncertainties in Rural Communities, (3) School Board, 10.28.19: 3 Points, and (4) Dissolving a School District.