Excellence Through Opportunity (Pro-School Redistricting)

On June 12th, I sat down with the Excellence Through Opportunity Committee at a local restaurant in Clarence, Missouri. Throughout the interview, individuals within the committee spoke out on their own personal behalf, but it was upon request that within my report of the interview, that I refer only on behalf of Excellence Through Opportunity and not specific names of individuals.

To quickly catch anyone up that is now tuning in on what has been a very turbulent summer between both the Shelby County R-lV and Macon R-1 School District and individuals living within the area, shortly before the April 3rd Election, petitioners in both school districts (verified by both the Shelby County and Macon County Clerk) gathered enough signatures required by state statute to put the issue of School Redistricting on the ballot for patrons to vote on it in the August 7th Election. Patrons living within the Macon R-1 and Shelby County R-lV School Districts will vote on Proposition 1 (School Boundary Change). By state statute, either school board is powerless when it came to the petitions – they had to comply, and both accepted and recognized the signatures formally at their board meetings. The committee stated that the petition was meant to get the issue to the voters. One individual stated, “the election in April didn’t count for anything. We might as well have not shown up. This vote in August will maybe count for something. People can secretly say what they really want.” After asking them why one election doesn’t amount to something but another one would, they stated, “We are outnumbered. When you have 84% of Clarence people voting no to consolidation, it doesn’t make any difference because we are outnumbered.” Another individual stated that, “The election in April was decided by a little over 100 votes and I would almost guess that those came from age eligible students who voted and won’t return to this area.” Another person chimed in and said, “With that, I get to pay taxes for the next 20 years.”

Throughout the interview, the committee focused a lot about the many opportunities that Macon R-1 offers to their area kids, being one of the biggest reasons why the looked to redistricting after the Clarence Elementary, by the vote of the people in Shelby County R-lV, voted this past April to consolidate both the Clarence and Shelbina Elementary into one elementary building which would be built by the current location of the South Shelby Middle and High School. Stated in a paper handout that I received, citing a drop-in enrollment at South Shelby High School, the many opportunities that have been offered have dropped in the past decade. “Today South Shelby falls far short of the opportunities that the Macon R-1 School District can offer. Macon over the years has continued to increase opportunities. Macon has increased opportunities to better prepare students for college – currently offering 73+ college credit hours,” stated the informational handout. Furthermore, Excellence Through Opportunity believes that with this boundary change, it will result in students being better prepared for college and “more equipped to compete for higher paying jobs right out of high school” (citing the Macon Vocational and Technical Programs). They also talked about the security issue facing South Shelby. If they go to Macon, if something were to happen to the kids (medical injury etc.) the school is right there by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, The Hospital, Police Department, etc.

On top of the opportunities that the committee believes Macon has to offer compared to South Shelby, they also talked about the “Irreconcilable Differences.” In short, along with another information handout, it stated that, “Shelby County R-lV has discontinued input from the western side of our district immediately after the vote to consolidate in the early 60’s.” Clarence and Shelbina had come together to

consolidate the high school’s of each community as both believed it would offer more opportunities as “one” to the students living in the area. However, citing that before the vote to consolidate, the understanding was that the new campus would be built in Lentner (halfway between both Shelbina and Clarence). Seeing that it didn’t happen, “today, many form the western side believe this was the first of many lies to come,” stated the committee. Citing several ballot initiatives that attempted to consolidate the Junior High’s in 1993 and then several attempts up until April 3rd, 2018 to consolidate the Elementary Schools, Clarence has overwhelmingly voted against any attempts to consolidate. Specifically, in 1993, the western side of the school district voted against (74%) the consolidation effort of the Junior High’s (Shelbina voted 64% in favor), falling short of the 4/7th needed to pass. It would later be put as a lease purchase which only needed a simple majority which passed. In April of 2015, a ballot initiative to consolidate the elementary buildings was voted on with 94% of people in the Clarence Area voting no, falling short of the 4/7th needed to pass. In 2018, it was then put on the ballot as a lease purchase which needed to a simple majority to pass. In April of 2018, PROPOSITION KIDS (consolidate both elementary buildings) passed with the majority of voters approving of the initiative; the vote was 951 Yes – 843 No. Many in Clarence believe that their elementary building was in good shape to continue with educating area kids, “many of us from the western side considered the Clarence Elementary to be the shining star of Shelby County R-lV,” stated the committee. In April, Clarence voted 84% No – majority of voters in both districts voted yes. Over the years, there has been a gentlemen’s agreement in the Shelby County R-lV School District about the school board representation between Shelbina and Clarence. The agreement was to keep a balanced board and to allow the two biggest communities in the district to be represented. In a Shelby County Newspaper, a 1980 article titled “Unity Needed” talked about since the first time of the formation of the Shelby County R-lV School District, the “gentlemen’s agreement” to elect one person from Clarence and one person from Shelbina was broken. Stated in the article, two people from Clarence were elected. According to the article, the matter of electing “two persons” from Clarence was actively promoted in the Clarence Area. Furthermore, the article closed by stating that “As we have stated before, we feel anyone elected to the board should consider themselves from the R-lV District, not from Clarence, not from Shelbina. Unity is what the school district needs a strong dose of at this time. We hope that can be accomplished.” When questioned about that article, the committee responded by saying the gentlemen that was elected, sent his kids to Shelbina for school, but had a Clarence address. One individual went on further to say, “Shiloh Christian Ranch is the same way. They live out here but they don’t send their kids to the Clarence Elementary. They take them all to Tri-County. They go to high school at South Shelby.”

One member present stated that, “if you look at this from the Macon perspective, there is a lot more positives than negatives with this part of the district, going to Macon.” Furthermore, there was discussion about kids and community members going to Macon for grocery shopping, car repairs, etc. In the eyes of those present, it only makes sense to them that Clarence Area kids are sent to Macon R-1, too. Several members present expressed concern that input from taxpayers has not been taken into account. One individual stated that there is a new elementary being built for 12 million dollars, there isn’t industry in Shelby County, and there’s a declining enrollment at District Schools. Excellence Through Opportunity also stated that “South Shelby will be fine without them. They have a nice fund balance, they can still build their school, and they can roll back their 73 cents on the recent tax increase.” The group went on to say that they feel the South Shelby crew is trying to manipulate the vote by putting out misleading information. The group cited that according to the State Auditor’s Office backed up by the State Attorney General, their opinion is that those in the redistricting area, won’t have

to pay the 73 cents that was recently passed; maybe up to a year. To this day, the South Shelby Attorney disagrees with the opinion of the Auditor’s Office and Attorney General citing that “This issue is far from clear and that Missouri Courts haven’t examined the transfer of a tax levy obligation from a portion of one district to another.” Clarence is 11 miles from Macon and 11 miles from South Shelby. Again, the committee expressed that 11 miles to the west would offer more opportunities (Tiger-zone, Special Education Program, Vo-Tech, etc.)

I offered a question to the committee stating that, “Are we allowing people on their own to make their decision on whether or not Macon has more opportunities, or are we forcing individuals into a district that they don’t want to be apart of?” The committee referred to the Macon resolution that was approved which allows students (7th-12th) grade to make a one-time choice on whether or not to stay at South Shelby if redistricting were to pass by the voters in August. Macon stated in the resolution that they would pay tuition for those students – South Shelby has a current tuition rate of $7,800. “There are people in Clarence who want their kids to attend Macon. If redistricting doesn’t happen, they will be forced to stay at South,” stated one individual. Another individual went on to say (about those wanting to stay at South Shelby that live in the Clarence Area), “Well they can move just as easy as the rest of us.” One member stated that “I love this community. I want what is best for it. I don’t have faith in the school board about doing something with this building (Clarence Elementary). It would be heartbreaking. Clarence is very proud of their community and their kids.” The committee stated that with the resolution that the Macon School Board passed, regarding tuition, why hasn’t the South Shelby School Board “accepted” that. One individual stated, “they keep talking about it’s all about the kids. Why haven’t they accepted?”

When asked if they have kids in the Shelby County R-lV School District, the majority of those at the interview stated, “Some of us have grandkids.” While one individual stated, “I’m also a taxpayer.” Several other comments stated that taxpayers should also have a say in how their money is spent and “it should be spent wisely in the best interest for the education of the kids.” One individual went on to say, “It’s more of a social thing with them more than it’s about thinking about their future in the academics. I’ve had to change school’s years ago. It didn’t bother us a bit. We made new friends. My parents never made a big issue about it.” Another individual went on to say, “Your friends don’t pay your bills for you.” They all agreed with one individual that stated, “This will not be a tragedy, no matter the outcome. We will be fine. We will continue to live in and support this community. Kids are resilient. If we go to Macon, I don’t see how it would be a tragedy for Shelbina. If we have to stay here and continue to go to school at South Shelby under a lesser education, well that’s not a tragedy. There are people here who have experienced true tragedy.” The committee went on to say that if redistricting occurs, kids will move to Macon and make new friends and then move onto college. The cited that some don’t even return to Shelby County, but they hope that if redistricting occurs, that will change. When asked about teachers at South Shelby making statements of, “I can never tell the difference between a Shelbina kid or Clarence kid,” the committee responded by saying, “That’s not true. You can absolutely tell.”

When asked about the kids, parents, etc. who have spoken out against redistricting and have written Letters to the Editor, the question was “how does that make you feel?” They responded, “they have no ties to this community. The mom who recently moved here, how long are they going to stay? The kid from Shiloh, he’s been here for what, a year? Is he going to stay after he graduates? Do they pay taxes? Are they going to put their kids in this school system? Shortly after, the committee was asked about an article published in “The Clarence Courier” and had a quote in there from an undisclosed

Clarence resident stating that the petitions were used as “leverage” against the school board to keep their school open – had nothing really to do with Macon, but instead to get the state involved. Everyone present denied saying the quote. [It was confirmed later by a Courier Reporter, of the authenticity of the quote and that in fact it was said] Throughout the interview, the committee explained that they wanted to work things out with the South Shelby School Board. They stated that at the beginning of all of this, Mr. Jarvis spoke with Tim Maddex stating that this needed to be worked out before it got really heated. As the group stated, “to find a compromise.” They also stated that, “the board didn’t listen to us, they ignored the petitions.” In a Shelby County paper prior to the April Election, Superintendent Jarvis reached out to Tim Maddex and Shelby County Patrons with a letter stating that it needs to be worked out in Shelby County. He also stated that, “I see forcing these students to move to another district is a negative that far outweighs any possible positives.” The following is the letter that Jarvis submitted: Macon County R-1 did not ask to be a part of this dispute. I believe this issue should be worked out between the good people of Shelby County. I was visited in my office by a person representing the Clarence group proposing to collect signatures on a petition in order to force a vote on changing district boundaries. If the correct number of votes is collected in each county the school districts have no choice but to run the ballot in August. If this comes to a ballot it will be the vote of the people who will decided the issue or possibly a state arbitrator. Knowing this could possibly happen I think it would be wise for us to think how we would handle the situation if it happens. I would much rather be prepared now than to wait until it happens. I have spoken to most of my board members at various times about this issue. This issue has not been a board meeting agenda item and I do not expect it to be unless we receive a validated petition. I have weighed all of the positives and negatives if this change would happen to our district. What really matters is what changing boundaries would do to the students of Shelby County RIV. Your students have developed friends and relationships within your district. I see forcing these students to move to another district is a negative that far outweighs any possible positives. I would imagine many of their parents and grandparents are alumni's of Shelby County R-IV. Changing boundaries and being included in the Macon County R-1 School District will not prevent the Clarence School from closing. We are currently in the process of building an addition to our elementary building and once it is complete we would be able to accommodate the increase in enrollment and we would not have to increase our staff. Leaving the school open is not financially sound and would not be the best way to spend tax payer money. I have spoken with Superintendent Maddex and it is my understanding his board is committed to keeping the Clarence School open for another year if the levy passes. If the levy does not pass I believe the Shelby County R-IV School Board is willing to look at options as it pertains to the elementary schools and buildings. Once again I believe the best scenario is for the people of Shelby County R-IV School District to work this out amongst themselves. Scott Jarvis Superintendent of Macon County R-1”

In closing, the Excellence Through Opportunity Committee stated that at every meeting they say a quick prayer for everyone involved and they put a heavy emphasis on the fact that you won’t see rude or disrespectful comments coming from them on Social Media. For more information regarding Excellence Through Opportunity, please visit their website: excellencethroughopportunity.org

Proposition 1 (School Boundary Change) is set to be voted on in the August Election (August 7th). Eligible voters living in the Macon R-1 or Shelby County R-lV School District will be allowed to vote.

Picture is of several individuals from Macon and Clarence who are in favor of Prop. 1. Upon request, some had their faces blacked out.