by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
May 31, 2024
TOPEKA — A Kansas Department of Education attorney recommended Friday the Kansas State Board of Education reject a petition filed by the Nemaha Central school district to seize education instruction territory under the jurisdiction of the Prairie Hills district.
Scott Gordon, general counsel to the department who served as hearing officer in this dispute, submitted a report that concluded the state Board of Education should deny the petition submitted by Nemaha Central in February to take control of about 78 square miles of territory. He pointed to state Board of Education guidelines and state law on land transfers in his report tied to years of controversy linking the northeast Kansas public school districts.
Prairie Hills superintendent Todd Evans, who opposed the unilateral maneuver by Nemaha Central, said Gordon’s recommendation should be accepted by the 10-member state Board of Education.
“We respectfully urge the state Board of Education to follow their policy with fidelity, respect the democratic process, honor local control and follow Mr. Gordon’s thoughtful recommendation by voting to dismiss this land grab petition,” Evans said.
He said authorization of a contested land transfer from one district to another district, without a significant change in operational circumstances, could “create chaos for school districts statewide and disempower local boards of education.”
The advisory opinion was expected to be the subject of an executive session by the state Board of Education during a June meeting in Topeka.
Gordon’s report indicated he reviewed briefs submitted by attorneys for both school districts as well as written and oral testimony gathering at a four-hour public meeting in March.
In 2010, the Axtell and Bern school districts merged to form Prairie Hills. Some residents of the Bern community, the report said, believed the school in Bern would remain open. Prairie Hills, which includes Sabetha, closed the Bern attendance center in 2012.
Landowners within Prairie Hills’ territory affected by the Bern closure requested transfer of land to the Nemaha Central district, which includes Seneca. However, the Nemaha Central and Prairie Hills couldn’t reach agreement on a jurisdictional transfer of territory.
The report said Prairie Hills’ decision to close a school in Wetmore in 2023 prompted some of the district’s students to transfer to the Nemaha Central, Vermillion and Jackson Heights districts. In May, the state Board of Education approved land transfers from Prairie Hills to Jackson Heights and Vermillion based on negotiated agreements that take effect July 1.
Mediation failed to resolve disagreements involving the Nemaha Central and Prairie Hills districts, which led to filing of the petition, the public hearing and consideration of the territory transfer by the State Board of Education, the report said.
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