Board weighs switch to at-large districts

The USD 257 board of education engaged for a third time with the question of redrawing the boundaries of its current voting districts.

A select number of board members consulted County Clerk Sherrie Riebel prior to Monday’s meeting to discuss the potential logistics of redistricting.

“Our member districts need to change,” said board member Mary Apt. “Whether we wind up choosing to [align with the city wards] or we go at-large, they’re going to have to change.”

The board’s motives in rethinking district alignment accords with their desire to simplify the election process, to ensure that citizens across the entire district receive fair representation, and to create an environment that encourages more local residents to run for office. “It would be nice to have more people involved in the election,” said Apt, “people who saw this as an opportunity to serve on the school board. So far, we just haven’t had that.”

“My thought,” Apt continued, “is that if you go to a more at-large concept, you might engage more people from throughout the district…. [With an all at-large approach,] you don’t have to worry about how many people are living within certain [areas] and you don’t have to worry about [districts] lining up perfectly with the city.” The proposal seemed a favorable one to many on the board.

One member of the audience, however — LaHarpe resident David Lee — sounded a note of caution. “If you go to the all at-large, is there a concern that there will be some districts that are covered now that won’t be covered in the future?”

Board president Dan Willis admitted that it was a concern, and one that he’d weighed himself.

“So, you’re opening the door to that is what you’re doing,” said Lee, who expressed worry that an all at-large bid could devolve into a district-wide “popularity contest.”

“That’s why we feel the voters should have the final say [on how their board members are elected],” said Willis, who has asked Superintendent of Schools Stacey Fager to prepare a resolution and submit it for the board’s approval before the group’s next meeting. The resolution will determine the language that appears on the November ballot.

IOLA resident Larry Walden repeated his plea that the school board reschedule their meetings so as to avoid a direct conflict with the meetings staged by the Iola City Council.

But it was to no avail. The board voted to keep their current meeting schedule intact for the coming year.

Amid the flurry of annual proforma business that marks most mid-July school board meetings, the body voted to retain Dan Willis as USD 257 president and Mary Apt as vice president. Jen Taylor will continue in her role as Bowlus Fine Arts Center representative. Doug Dunlap will serve again as the ANW Special Education Co-op point person. Nancy Toland will serve as liaison to the Recognition Committee. And first-year board member Jerad Larkey will take over as the “Career and Tech Ed” representative.