Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Supporters of a breakaway Mattoon school district have filed a petition with the state seeking an appeal of the Antigo school board’s vote to deny letting the proposed secession go to a referendum.
A petition organizer who did not want to be quoted said 904 signatures were collected and hand-delivered on Feb. 15, the deadline for filing for appeal.
The Unified School District of Antigo board voted 8-1 on Jan. 10 against the proposed referendum. A yes vote would have sent the question to a referendum in November.
The appeal was 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.
The next step would be a public hearing on the matter. The date is not yet scheduled.
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.
The plan would be for the Mattoon district to contract with Antigo schools for seventh though 12th grade classes.
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.