Oshkosh board hears three boundary petitions; rejects one, denies others

The Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education held a public hearing Feb. 26 on three petitions to alter school district boundaries and later considered three separate resolutions to approve or deny those petitions.

The petitions would have detached parcels from the Oshkosh district and attached them to neighboring districts. Petitioners told the board that the moves were driven by students’ attendance patterns and transportation safety. Tim Scottberg, who identified himself as the petitioner for the Winniconne petition, told the board most children from the named neighborhood already attend Winniconne schools and that bus pickup options there had been removed, forcing unsafe highway pickups. “Voting yes to this petition would ensure safer transportation for all of our students,” Scottberg said. Katina Mulkey, who asked to move a parcel to the Amarillo district, said a majority of her neighbors already belong to Amarillo and cited smaller class sizes and a special-education placement timing concern for her child.

District staff summarized the three petitions and recommended against approving them. Administration noted statutory criteria the board must consider under state law (including educational welfare, fiscal impact and potential formation of an island territory) and highlighted timing and map details submitted by municipal clerks and the Department of Public Instruction. For one petition staff said the detachment would create an “island” that is not contiguous with the Oshkosh district and recommended denial.

Board discussion included concern for individual students’ transportation and educational needs, balanced against the district’s statutory responsibilities and fiscal impacts. Board members cited the statutory criteria the Board of Education and the state appeals board will evaluate if a detachment is appealed to the Department of Public Instruction.

Votes at a glance - Petition A: Detach parcels and attach to Winniconne (petitioners: Timothy and Lindsey Scott Berg; amended parcel added by Town of Vinland) — Board action: rejected/failed. (Board president’s packet and roll call show the motion failed; tally not fully specified in the meeting record.) - Petition B: Detach parcel to Amarillo (petitioner: Katina Mulkey) — Board action: denied (administration recommended denial; board vote was against approval.) - Petition C: Attach parcel detached from Amarillo to Oshkosh (petitioner information in packet) — Board action: denied (administration recommended denial; board voted not to approve).

What the board said Dr. Herzog urged the board to follow statutory criteria and supported the administration’s recommendation to deny at least one petition, noting the appeals board would give the statutory factors careful review. Board member Dr. Hess said he was sympathetic to petitioners’ transportation concerns and indicated he was leaning toward approval on at least one petition, but the board did not adopt that position in final votes.

What petitioners said Scottberg emphasized safety and neighborhood continuity, saying students from the parcels are already enrolled in Winniconne and that consolidating district assignment would secure bus service and per-pupil funding that follows students. Mulkey said her family’s children would benefit from smaller Amarillo class sizes and that recent enrollment handling created stress during a special-education transition.

Next steps A petitioner who disagrees with the board’s decision may appeal to the state school district boundary appeals process at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The district packet included the statutory criteria the appeals board would consider; the board noted those criteria during debate.

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