CLAFLIN — For more than a decade, the high schools at Wilson and Central Plains have been united under the same administration as USD 112, with separate school colors, mascots, activities and sports programs.

On Monday, the Central Plains Board of Education, meeting in the Central Plains gymnasium in Claflin, voted 5-2 to have grades 7-12 at Wilson attend school in Claflin for the 2023-24 school year. The move, according to USD 112 Superintendent Greg Clark, would help with staffing inequities, as well as equalize enrollment and boost sports programs at both schools.

The move would empty the junior-senior high school building, which would be retained as elementary grades would still attend school in Wilson.

The motion to make the consolidation was made by Tamara Dody, board vice-president. 

Dody had introduced a similar motion combining all extracurricular activities of the two schools for the 2022-23 school year, but that motion was defeated by a 4-3 vote. A follow-up motion, made by board member Allison Koch, was upheld to have administrators and staff possibly combining sports programs for the two schools in the future.

“I feel like it’s the effort of this board and administrative staff as well as the previous school board to make the best of our challenging barriers,” Dody said Monday. “We’re all empathetic and understand that the large geographic area of USD 112 presents unique circumstances. However, we cannot use this as an excuse from having to make hard decisions and have a clear plan for our district for the future.”

A rocky road to consolidation

School consolidation in Kansas has always been a mix of complexities, ever since the state mandated mergers aimed at “unification” saw school patrons in anguish over the loss of school identity in rural areas. While those consolidations were mandatory, today’s mergers are voluntary, but no less emotional for towns caught on what they perceive as the losing end.

In 2012, a panel created by Gov. Sam Brownback looked at district efficiency, with the possibility of regionalized administration. Among the hard realities, state legislators such as Rep. Don Hineman, Dighton, a Republican in western Kansas, noted that rural schools are victims of economies of scale; declining student population means a decline in available state aid and, down the road, consolidation is the inevitable end result.

“It’s probably easier to achieve some consolidation in the minds of some folks, by adjusting the funding for small school districts and starving them to the point where they’re forced to consolidate,” Hineman said.

The path to USD 112

State-mandated consolidation united Holyrood and Bushton in the same district and formed USD 328. Quivira Heights, Wilson and Claflin school districts became Central Plains USD 112 in 2011.

Before the pandemic, USD 112, like many rural districts in the state, faced population losses affecting budget decisions. In 2019, budget cut discussions drew 212 patrons to a board meeting as personnel issues were debated heading into the 2019-20 school year. An option to bus Wilson students to Claflin was introduced as a budget-leveling measure. A survey of Wilson students indicated at that time a large percentage would choose to attend school in Ellsworth, Russell or Sylvan-Lucas. Only four students surveyed indicated they would attend CPHS.

Moving the 7-12 Wilson students to Claflin would involve around a 30-minute commute. Clark noted that district staff had worked to create and estimate transportation costs for transporting students, including after-school activity routes.

At Monday’s meeting held at Central Plains High School in Claflin, patrons wearing Wilson school colors sat as a group to hear discussion prior to the board’s decision. While several board members expressed the view that one high school for the district was a positive point, ways to achieve unity remained sticking points in the discussion.

Board member Roger Robinson said that a large percentage of the staff at Wilson school — and at Central Plains as well — are on “pins and needles.”

Koch noted, “I think one thing that we can all agree on is that every community is passionate about our district.

“We have to stop seeking opportunities to widen the gap and focus on the opportunities to bridge the gap between our communities.”