By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
One school closure in a small Kansas school district is a big decision. Two closures is almost unheard of. Yet that’s the position in which the USD 112 Central Plains Board of Education found itself over the past three years. In January 2023, the board voted to close Wilson High School. At a special meeting on Feb. 23, the board voted 5-1 to close Wilson Elementary at the close of the 2025-26 school year. During a special meeting at Central Plains Elementary School on Jan. 21, Superintendent Bobby Murphy laid the groundwork for the decision.
“In 2022-23, there were 87 K-6 students,” Murphy said of the school. “In 2023-24, there were 75 students K-6. In 2024-25, there were 69 students. And at the beginning of this year, there were 66 students K-6. When we came after Christmas break on Jan. 12, we had 58 students K-6. We’re anticipating being close to the 50 number next year for our school enrollment at Wilson Elementary. If we do drop to that 50 mark for K-6 enrollment, that will mean our K-6 population dropped by 37 students over this span. That is a 42 percent drop in K-6 students, resulting in an estimated revenue loss of over $200,000 in funding.”
Murphy said superintendents from surrounding districts have reported they are transporting 28-35 students from Wilson and Dorrance to their schools. That figure does not include families who transport their own students out of the district. Even after absorbing two positions at the school, Wilson Elementary is spending $250,000-300,000 more than it receives in state-aid revenue. Last year, Wilson Elementary spent just over $28,000 per student, while the state average is just under $18,000 per student.
Another issue at play is the state funding formula regarding education. In 2018 and 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court issued rulings in the Gannon v. Kansas case, which found the state’s education funding to be equitable but inadequate. That oversight ended in 2024, which will change how schools are funded in future years.
At the Jan. 16 meeting, Murphy reported that approximately 70 percent of participating residents in Wilson and Dorrance agreed to close Wilson Elementary so the district could begin the process of a land transfer with several other area districts. Wilson resident Michelle Brokes asked if the closure could be delayed until the end of the 2026-27 school year. Denise Schmidt said the closure of a school should not define a community.
“Let’s remember that a school does not define your community,” she said. “The people in your community define your community. If you want to look at the very best example of that, we should look at the community of Bushton. When the teachers, staff members, and students left in May 2019, they had no idea they wouldn’t be coming back in August 2019. That community didn’t fold up. They took initiative, they were resilient, as Kansas people are, and they have developed a strong, thriving community, even with a school closing.”
No direct action was taken on the closure during the Jan. 16 meeting, but the board reconvened for another special meeting on Feb. 23 inside the Central Plains High School gymnasium. Murphy outlined the state statute at play to close a school building.
“The board of education of any unified school district, by adoption of a resolution, may close any school building at any time the board determines the building should be closed for the improvement of a school system of a unified school district,” he told the board. “The board of education may close more than one school building in one resolution. A resolution adopted pursuant to this section shall require a majority vote of the members of the board of education, and shall require no other approval.”
KSA 72-1431 also outlines the appeal process for a closing resolution. The State Board of Education will hold an administrative review if five percent of the district’s registered voters express dissatisfaction with the resolution. The appeal must be made within 45 days of the approval of the resolution, and the State Board will have 45 days to issue a non-binding opinion advising the local board to modify or rescind the resolution.
“I would anticipate, with the administrative review and finding the declining enrollment numbers, factored with the amount of residents who are choosing to transport their elementary school students to other students, coupled with the state-provoked public school funding challenges that are coming up, I don’t see any way an administrative review team would deem a closing resolution in this situation as anything but reasonable,” Murphy said. “But that’s just my opinion.”
The board voted 5-1 that evening to close Wilson Elementary at the close of the 2025-26 school year. Board Member Kayla Cullens was the lone dissenting vote.
“When you lose a school, you’re not just losing a building,” Cullens said. “You lose families, you lose jobs, you lose the economic impacts it has on your community. By closing the elementary, that’s going to be two schools in three years on that community. That’s a tough hit.”
Board Member Allison Gonzalez was part of the majority that voted in favor of the closure.
“It’s not easy to sit here and make decisions like this, and talk about things like this,” she said. “I think we all recognize the choices carry weight and affect the families, students, and staff of our entire community. Most of the feedback I have received tells me the residents of the community, from Wilson and Dorrance both, support pursuing the land transfer. I’ve been hearing that since I got on the board.
“At the same time, the potential receiving districts have made it clear that before we can have any meaningful discussions about a land transfer, the elementary school has to first be closed. If we’re serious about moving forward and working toward a land transfer, we have to take the necessary first step. For that reason, I believe it’s appropriate to close the building, effective at the end of this school year, so the discussions can begin, and we can move forward with planning.”
The USD 112 Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting Monday night. While not action was taken on the closure, the board did hear from a handful of concerned residents.
The late Donley Bristow coached and taught in Wilson for several years before retiring in 2001. His wife, Linda, spoke of the impact Wilson schools have had on many generations.
“This building is in good shape, and you want to close it,” she said. “It’s something to think about, putting kids on a bus in the early morning –they have no time to play in the evenings if they are on a bus. This school has taught a lot of kids, and they’ve done very well.”
Roberta Meier was a vocal opponent against the closure of Wilson High School in 2023. She cited many volunteer and youth-based organizations in Wilson that impact surrounding communities.
“This is going hurt not only the Wilson community, but the surrounding ones, as these volunteers, with their generous, helping hands, possibly have to go somewhere else.”