Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Supporters of a breakaway Mattoon school district are gathering signatures for a petition to appeal a decision by the Antigo school board to deny letting the proposed secession go to a referendum.
The Unified School District of Antigo board voted 8-1 on Jan. 10 against the proposal. A yes vote would have sent the question to a referendum in November.
Supporters need to collect about 1,000 signatures from around the Antigo school district and present their petition to the state by the end of the day on Feb. 15.
The appeal will be filed with the School District Boundary Appeal Board, a panel made up of 12 school board members from around the state appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction.
Zak Kickhaver, one of the leaders of the Mattoon effort, said the group is confident about being able to get the required signatures.
The petition is available at the Mattoon market and supporters will also be going door-to-door for signatures, Kickhaver said.
The Antigo board was required to consider seven factors under state law: the geographical considerations of the district, educational needs, equality in program offerings, support services, fiscal impact, the geography of the reorganized territory, and the socio-economic and racial composition of the proposed new district.
District Administrator Brian Misfeldt said each factor was considered on the basis of whether it would positively or negatively impact the existing Antigo school district, and that after considering the factors, the board was unable to support the creation of a Mattoon district.
Efforts to create a Mattoon district, which would serve students in kindergarten through sixth grade, were spurred by the Antigo board’s decision last year to close Mattoon Elementary School.
There are 120 eligible elementary students within the boundaries of the proposed Mattoon district, though some of them could still attend the Antigo district through open enrollment. The boundaries are in line with the area served by Mattoon Elementary in the 2015-16 school year, according to Kickhaver.
The plan would be for the Mattoon district to contract with Antigo schools for seventh though 12th grade classes.
Kickhaver said proponents never intended to create a K-12 school district because the Mattoon school doesn’t have the facilities to support one. Also, he said, the additional requirements such as athletic programs and specialty teachers wouldn’t be financially feasible.
Antigo school officials voted twice to close the elementary school. Some parents say the school board’s first vote in April was taken without any public notice. The board held a special meeting in June to vote again and came down to the same 5-4 decision.
The village of Mattoon sought a court injunction in May to keep the Antigo school district from closing the Mattoon school, maintaining the village and parents of elementary school students in Mattoon were blindsided by the decision.
Two parents of Mattoon elementary students joined the village as plaintiffs in the complaint.
The complaint alleged the school board’s vote to close the Mattoon school was retribution for the lack of support for the school district’s failed April 5 referendum.
The $25.9 million plan would have closed five of the district’s seven elementary schools, renovated the remaining two, and built a new, centralized school in Antigo.
The referendum failed by a vote of 3,787-2,615.
The civil complaint maintained that the school’s closure will make the village of Mattoon a less attractive place to live, leading to a decline in population, business presence and economic vitality.
A court order issuing a settlement and stipulation to dismiss the suit was issued on Aug. 4, after the Mattoon school had already been closed.