GLADBROOK – To keep a town’s school campus open, a citizen action group submitted a petition to the Gladbrook-Reinbeck School Board last week, beginning a year-long process that could result in the school district’s dissolution by popular vote.

The group, known as “Citizens to keep a school in Gladbrook,” outlined in its petition justifications for dissolving the Gladbrook-Reinbeck, or G-R, district. It also nominated district residents to serve on a commission that is to determine the terms of dissolution.

Under the petition’s terms, the G-R district would split along the original Gladbrook School District and Reinbeck School District lines that were in place before the districts consolidated in 1998.

The Gladbrook portion would be absorbed by the Green Mountain-Garwin Community School District to the south, and the Reinbeck portion, by the Grundy Center Community School District to the west.

The move toward dissolution is a response to the G-R board’s recent decision to close the elementary and middle school campus in Gladbrook.

The board cited declining student enrollment and supplemental state aid in its decision, noting the closure would reduce district expenses by an estimated $400,000 annually.

But the district remains in financial jeopardy, according to the petition.

The number of students who submitted paperwork to open enroll out of the district increased by 57 students this year following the board’s decision.

That resulted in a loss of about $360,000 in state aid.

“The issue that was not thoroughly reviewed and understood with the G-R board was the impact of open enrollment,” claimed Mike Bearden, a member of the citizen action group. “The 57 open enrollees … wiped out the savings that they thought they had made by closing the building.”

The petition notes additional kindergarten students may open enroll out before the Sept. 1 enrollment deadline.

“A new educational configuration with potential additional partners needs to be established,” the petition states.

The G-R district stretches more than a dozen miles across four counties.

It includes two campuses, with a certified enrollment of 593 students, according to 2014-15 Iowa Department of Education figures.

Currently, schools in Reinbeck serve grades K-4 and 9-12 for Gladbrook and Reinbeck youths. The Gladbrook campus serves grades K-2 for Gladbrook children and 5-8 for both communities.

Students who enroll in the G-R district are slated to attend school in Reinbeck starting the first day of the 2015-16 school year, Aug. 24.

Grades K-6 are to be held at the Reinbeck Elementary School building, and 7-12 at the Reinbeck High School.

If the G-R district is dissolved under the terms outlined in the petition, school property in the northern and southern portions of the district would be incorporated into the Green Mountain-Garwin and Grundy Center districts, respectively.

The southern portion of the G-R district would retain the elementary and middle school building; softball and football fields, track and associated concession buildings; and learning center.

The northern portion of the district would retain the high school and elementary school buildings, playground equipment, soccer field and track, weight room, greenhouse, bus barn, Reinbeck Daycare building and industrial arts building.

It would be left to the Green Mountain-Garwin and Grundy Center school boards to determine how those properties would be used, said Bearden.

District division

Dissolving a school district is a multistep process, according to the Department of Education.

It begins with a petition for dissolution.

Signatures of at least 20 percent of eligible voters living in the G-R district had to be collected and presented to the school board along with names of seven members to sit on a dissolution commission.

Of the 3,061 registered voters in the G-R district, 726 signed the petition – about 110 more signatures than required.

The seven commission nominees who may be appointed by the G-R board are: Lisa Swanson, Eric Sieh, Doug Rowe, Terri Luehring, Mistrey Ficken, Keith Sash and Ted Hamer. That list of individuals is subject to change during the appointment process.

The commission is charged with consulting with school boards from neighboring districts and residents of the G-R district to the fullest extent possible.

Meetings are to be open to the public as required by Iowa’s Open Meetings Law.

The commission must also develop a proposal outlining the distribution of the G-R district’s territory, assets and liabilities.

It must submit the proposal to the G-R and neighboring school boards for review and possible amendment.

That step in the process can take up to one year to complete.

A public hearing is to be held within 60 days after the proposal is filed. Persons residing or owning land in the G-R district may testify and present evidence at the hearing.

After the G-R board reviews testimony, it may adopt the dissolution proposal or amend it before adopting it.

Any contiguous districts may object to the attachment of territory from the G-R district. In that case, the director of the Department of Education would determine what district is to receive unattached territory from the G-R district.

The last phase of dissolution is to send the proposition to voters by the next election. To pass, a majority of voters in the district must approve it.

If the matter was brought to voters at the next opportunity, the February 2016 election, reorganization would not take effect until the 2017-18 school year, said Bearden.

That means the Gladbrook campus would remain closed for at least two years, and there is no guarantee it would reopen under new district ownership.

But a chance at reopening is better than arrangements in the G-R district, said Bearden.

“The only guarantee right now is, under current conditions, there will no longer be students being educated in Gladbrook,” he claimed.

That sets the town up for a loss of property valuation, Bearden added.

“If you don’t have a school, new [residents] are not going to come to Gladbrook, so then the property values go down further, and it keeps rippling and rippling,” he said. “Then it hits Main Street.”

Looking beyond the Gladbrook campus closure, dissolution would benefit both halves of the district, according to the petition.

Assimilating into the Green Mountain-Garwin and Grundy Center school districts would reduce travel time for students and parents, it states.

The communities of Gladbrook and Reinbeck are 16 miles apart.

Gladbrook and Garwin are 7 miles apart, and Gladbrook and Green Mountain, 9 miles apart. Reinbeck is 9 miles from Grundy Center.

Currently, the G-R district also has or is slated to have sharing agreements with the Grundy Center district, including a transportation director, art and agricultural teachers, a librarian and curriculum director.

That makes continued affiliation with Grundy Center a logical choice, according to the petition.

Selecting the Green Mountain-Garwin district was also based on the large number of Gladbrook-area students choosing to open enroll to that district.

Bearden said the attorney representing the citizens group has not received a response from the G-R board.

Contact Bennet Goldstein at 641-753-6611 or bgoldstein@timesrepublican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bennetgoldstein