Residents petition to join Garrison School District
By JERRY KRAM and ALYSSA ADAM
A group of landowners has filed a petition to move their land out of the Parshall School District and into the Garrison School District.
A hearing will be held to evaluate the petition in the McLean County Courthouse in Washburn at 1 p.m. on April 25.
The petition was signed by 25 residents of the area, called the Myers Annexation. The area covered by the petition is 14,742 acres in Loquemont Township in McLean County. One of the leaders of the petition drive, Alvin Myers, said children in the area already go to the Garrison school through open enrollment.
“The children in the area are already open enrolled to Garrison, the main push is to get the votes and the tax dollars going to where the children already are,” Myers said. “My thinking is the families made their decision on which school is right for their children, so we are just following their lead on getting the votes and tax dollars going to the right direction.”
The Parshall School Board will be taking a formal position on the annexation at its April 10 meeting. However, Board President Michelle Hoff expressed her personal disappointment in the action.
“I’m disappointed in the attempt to annex out,” Hoff said. “My question to (the petitioners) is when was the last time you’ve been into our district? When was the last time you’ve been involved in our elementary school and our youth? That’s my number one issue. They may not have been in our elementary school and aware of all the opportunities that both my kids have had. We have excellent teachers at the elementary school.”
