Whitebead and Paoli Schools will remain two distinct school districts after the Whitebead Board of Education voted Wednesday not to annex Paoli Schools into the Whitebead School District.
The board has been considering the action since late April, when they received a request from the Paoli Board of Education asking them to consider a voluntary annexation of the two districts. Paoli Superintendent David Morris has said the request stems from a decline enrollment at Paoli in recent years, which has left the district facing some hard financial decisions ahead of the upcoming school year. Morris has expressed he feels annexation could benefit both schools, providing Paoli with an influx of students and allowing Whitebead, which is a dependent school district serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade, the opportunity to have a high school.
In a special meeting held shortly after receiving Paoli’s request in April, Whitebead board members said they wanted to have as much public input about the proposed annexation as possible before making a final decision. The district has held three public forums in recent weeks and offered an online survey to gather that input.
Much of the public comment heard during those forums was from those opposed to annexation.
Before the board’s vote during Wednesday’s special meeting, Whitebead Superintendent Jason Midkiff shared the results of the online surveys, which served to quantify that opposition.
A total of 138 people filled out the survey. Of that total, 50% of respondents identified themselves as residents of the Whitebead School District, 20.3% were from the Pauls Valley School District, and 15.9% were from the Paoli School District.
Of the total responses, 65.9% said they were not in favor of the annexation. That percentage was higher among the 91 respondents who said they either live in the Whitebead School District or have children attending the school. Of those responses, 78% said they were against annexation.
Following the Whitebead Board’s 3-0 vote to decline Paoli’s annexation request, board members Alex Young, Sandy Arroyo and Belinda Hunt shared their thoughts with the small crowd of community members gathered to witness the vote.
“We sincerely thank everyone who shared input—whether through meetings, surveys or conversations. Your voices mattered,” Young said. “This was not an easy decision. We know how much Paoli means to many of you, and through this process, we gained an even greater appreciation for what Paoli represents. While we believe this is the right choice for Whitebead at this time, we continue to support Paoli and wish them success moving forward.”
Arroyo also expressed her appreciation for the community’s input and said she had approached the decision with an open mind, determined not to form a conclusion until she had enough information to make an informed decision.
She shared that she had initially leaned toward voting in favor of annexation, seeing the proposal as an opportunity expand the special sense of community and pride that defines Whitebead, and perhaps build something unique.
Arroyo said she ultimately decided to vote against annexation because the majority of the community did not support the move, something she believes should be heard and respected, and also because of the uncertainty surrounding who would be appointed to serve on the new board of education for a combined district, if annexation proposal were approved.
“I don’t feel right voting yes without a guarantee that I could help see the transition through and uphold the standards we expect for our school,” Arroyo said.
Hunt encouraged the community to continue the fervent show of support for the Whitebead School District that they have expressed during the recent public forums.
“Please share with friends and family the positive things happening at our school and what great teachers we have. Our next step is to increase our enrollment and word of mouth is our greatest advertisement,” Hunt said, referencing the dip in enrollment Whitebead has also experienced in the last few years, though to a lesser degree than Paoli.
Young said the board was proud to see so many Whitebead community members step up, speak out and stand together during the decision process, but he said that work is not finished.
“Like many small schools, our numbers are down. K-8 schools have been questioned for years, and we know that will not stop. Now is the time for Whitebead to grow stronger than ever—and that starts with you. We need you to recruit. Share your story. Tell others what makes Whitebead so special. Help families see why their kids will thrive here. We have something worth protecting and building on,” Young said.
Paoli Superintendent David Morris was also present at Wednesday’s meeting and said his district will continue to press forward.
“We’ll just have to tighten our budget, and we'll still have school. That’s one thing I want to make sure everybody understands that we are not closing by any means,” Morris said.
“We greatly appreciate Whitebead entertaining the idea. I was telling Mr. Midkiff, through this process it seems like our school community has all come together, which is nice to see. His as well, and so there's been some good come out of this for both schools. I think it's a good thing, and hopefully our numbers will come up and their numbers will come up and we can continue to have school in the future. Right now, we’re just ready to tighten our purse strings and work with what we have until we can grow.”
