Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Court backs down on annexation opposition

A special called meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court was filled with sound and fury, but signified nothing in the end.

The court met Tuesday, March 30, to discuss a resolution to oppose the annexation between the Emmet and Blevins school districts. Along with the court were around 200 Emmet residents who were vocal in their opinion, saying they made their choice and wanted to be left alone.

Bob Cummings, justice of the peace, had asked for the meeting, and said the purpose was to convince the court it needs to make its voice heard about keeping Nevada County things in Nevada County. "It's not controversy or emotion leading me tonight, but the need to keep a Nevada County district in Nevada County."

Cummings said Emmet decided to be annexed by a district in another county. "I want everyone to know, without reservation, the quorum court wants them to remain and be a vital part of Nevada County. I feel it would be a mistake for this county body not to make its feelings known to the Emmet School District. I request the court adopt a resolution to keep emmet in Nevada County."

George Clary, the JP from Emmet, said he wants the school to stay the way the people of Emmet want it as long as possible. "We want you to have a say in where your children go to school, not be forced by the state or have no say in what happens in the future."

Cummings agreed, saying no one wants to see the school close. He said Nevada County has been "slipping away" for years, losing businesses and schools. "If we keep losing stuff to other counties, Nevada County will blow away.

"I'm asking Emmet to consider other schools in Nevada County. I want Emmet where it is."

Curtis Lee Johnson said he talked to Dr. Gene Ross, Emmet's superintendent, and was told the new board would have four members from Blevins and three from Emmet. Emmet, he said, can do nothing if Blevins decides to close the school down, and there's nothing set in stone Emmet will get to keep its school.

Ross said this is about the children of the Emmet district. Emmet, he added, has been his home for 38 years.

When the gymnasium was burned several years ago, he said, it was like losing part of the community, but the patrons pitched in, worked together and built a new one. "We're proud of our school and town. The quorum court is attempting to destroy the school and town. What you're trying to do is close the school and transfer the money we've worked hard and sacrificed for to the Nevada School District."

Ross said the Nevada district voiced its objection about Emmet becoming a charter district, and this left Emmet with only one choice  consolidation. "We had to accept someone to go with and if the State Board of Education doesn't approve, it will choose. An objection could cause them to deny the annexation."

The Nevada district, he said, wants Emmet to close and force the students to go there. Ross claimed the Nevada district hired an attorney to help it close the Emmet school. "We wouldn't be here tonight if Nevada hadn't opposed our charter school. We had worked hard, had meetings and were told our plan was excellent. But the Board received a letter from Alan Roberts before the meeting and the charter was denied."

{While the letter from Roberts was submitted, it was not heard by the Board, nor admitted during the hearing. Luke Gordy, a member of the State Board, said the charter application was denied because it would have made Emmet a charter district and students wouldn't have had freedom to choose which school they wanted to attend.}

Under Act 60, Ross said, districts with fewer than 350 students must administratively consolidate. The superintendent would leave, but everything else would remain in place. Charter schools, he continued, would be exempt from this regulation.

The Emmet school has been in operation since 1878, he said, and when the district began looking for a partner to join, it wanted the pre-K through 12 grade left intact. Blevins was the only district, Ross said, that agreed to do this. "We had to go out of the county to find a good neighbor."

Prescott Superintendent Hyacinth Deon, he said, contacted him, but didn't provide the assurance of leaving the school intact. Emmet also considered joining with Saratoga, but decided not to try because the district's aren't contiguous.

Ross said approval of the resolution would destroy the Emmet school system.

Donnie Davis, Blevins superintendent, said he couldn't stand as tall as Ross, but wanted to ease everyone's fear. He said Blevins has no secret agenda concerning the Emmet district, and considers the new board to be 7-0, not 4-3, once it's in place.

Blevins, he said, is self-sufficient and is a good school with 470 students.

"We're not asking Emmet to secede from Nevada County. We want to build a relationship with Nevada County."

Ross and Davis agreed the annexation wouldn't affect county monies, though the entire opposition appeared to be based on money.

Richard Snell, a member of the Emmet School Board, said it's the children who are most important, not the money.

He said the Emmet board should be the body deciding what happens to the district, not the quorum court or another school district.

JP Gary Lewis said his personal desire was for Emmet to come to Prescott, but it isn't his business. "We're here, and no one knows the future. It's your school and children. If it doesn't work out with Blevins, we're here." With that he moved to adjourn with the resolution unread.

Before the motion to adjourn was acted upon, Cummings said he didn't have all the facts prior to the meeting.