State rejects school district's plans to dissolve

Posted at 10 a.m. on January 10, 2020

The Brillion News

MADISON — Plans by the Palmyra-Eagle Area School District to go out of business and dissolve were rejected by a special review committee established by the state Department of Public Instruction.

State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor said the group reached its decision on Friday, January 10.

“The School District Boundary Appeals Board decided today to deny the proposal to dissolve the Palmyra-Eagle Area School District," Stanford Taylor said.

State law dictated the criteria for the decision and the makeup of the board: six locally elected school board members from across Wisconsin, plus the DPI secretary's designee.

"Faced with a question that had no perfect answer, the seven-member group heard hours of passionate testimony from people whose lives will be impacted, the state superintendent said.

Her designee, David Carlson, voted to affirm dissolution, but the majority fdelt the district was still viable.

The petition to dissolve cited three factors,a all financial in nature:

High open enrollment costs due to students enrolling out to other nearby districts.

Reclining resident enrollment leading to smaller classes

Limited property tax base to support school taxes, because most taxable property growth is residential, not commercial or industrial.

es portions of Jefferson, Walworth and Waukesha counties.