From News Partner US92 Wausa made up its mind and does not want consolidation. At least not yet. The Wausa Board of Education voted 5-1 Monday night to discontinue their presence in the consolidation study that includes the towns of Creighton, Bloomfield and Osmond. Plainview elected to opt out in June after its town survey. Wausa completed its survey recently and Principal Brad Hoesing presented the results at the school board meeting on Monday. Two-thirds of the town said they did not support consolidation with only 19% backing it. That was enough to convince the school board that at this time the town was not ready for a merger. However the that doesn’t mean Wausa isn’t willing to consolidate or co-op if they need to. 66% of survey participants said they’d consider consolidation if they lost curricular programs due to low enrollment, reduced funding or lacked a qualified staff. Some members of the Wausa board mentioned that they wanted to stay in the fold with the other three remaining schools: Bloomfield, Osmond and Creighton, and see what they decide to do. Superintendent of Wausa, Robert Marks, said that really isn’t an option and that at this point Wausa is out and has to sit on the sidelines and wait for those three schools to call it quits. “My opinion is that until this thing dies completely with all schools, no. We won’t be at the table, so to speak, at least right now,” said Marks. One option the town liked was a two-school consolidation. 51% of the respondents were favorable towards that option. Although, getting that passed would be tricky as one of the two towns in that arrangement would get to keep their school, while the school in the other town would have to close. The remaining three schools still in the study will meet Wednesday, July 22, to decide the next step. |