Manitowoc board approves boundary change for single home to keep student in district

The Manitowoc School District Board of Education voted 4-2 at a special meeting to grant a petition to change school district boundaries for a single property so a student with special needs would remain in the Manitowoc district.

Board members approved the petition as amended to apply only to the petitioners' property; the motion as amended passed 4-2. The change is not final until the neighboring Valders School District acts on the request.

Board members and staff framed the issue as a narrowly focused request from a family that recently purchased a home across the existing attendance line. Administrators told the board the petition would place the property inside Manitowoc's boundaries if Valders agrees; the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) had cautioned the board that granting ad hoc exceptions can raise legal and administrative concerns. Board members repeatedly distinguished approving an annexation (changing a boundary) from creating an exception to enrollment policy.

The board heard that only one household and one student would be affected by the proposed boundary change. Board discussion touched on state special-education reimbursement and district enrollment caps: presenters said state special-education funding “was supposed to be 60%” but in practice “generally runs between 20 and 40 percent.” Several members said keeping an existing student and the continuity of services and staff relationships weighed in favor of approving the petition. Other members said approving a boundary change for one household could create a precedent that would invite additional individual petitions and complicate the district’s enrollment cap and staffing formula.

During discussion a board member noted a geographic detail cited by the petitioners: about 1,200 feet from the current attendance line would encompass the property’s edge, and the line could be drawn to affect only the petitioners’ parcel. Another board member said the petition had initially been reported as affecting multiple properties at an earlier meeting but that the materials now before the board indicated only one property would be affected.

The board first moved to take the item off the table, then approved an amendment to limit the approval to the petitioners’ property. After the amendment passed, the main motion as amended—granting the petition provided it affects only the petitioners’ property—passed on a 4-2 vote. The motion’s mover and seconder were not specified in the meeting record; the roll-call names recorded at the start of the meeting included Christopher Abel, Vic Hansen, Matthew Phipps, Keith Shaw, Matthew Staldi, Gary Trask and Tony Mostelka. The meeting record did not list how individual board members voted; the board announced the final tally as 4 to 2.

Board members emphasized that Valders School District retains final authority: even if Manitowoc approves the boundary amendment, Valders must also approve the change for it to take effect. The board also noted that the district’s existing enrollment cap would not apply if the student is outside Manitowoc’s boundaries and that state reimbursement follows the student’s district assignment.

The petitioning family attended the meeting and was acknowledged by the board. The board moved on to other agenda items after the vote.