May 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM - Special Meeting of Whitebead Board of Education

Discussion:  There were thirty-seven guests present.  The sign-in sheet is attached to the minutes. David Morris, superintendent of Paoli and Angie Norman, Paoli school board member were present.
 

Discussion:  Alex Young started with the following statement:
This meeting is for discussion and information sharing regarding the proposed annexation of Paoli School District into Whitebead School District. No formal action (no vote) will be taken at this meeting.  All participants must be respectful to speakers, board members, staff and other attendees.  Disruptive behavior (shouting, interruptions, insults) will not be allowed. Any violation will result in your removal from the building.

Mr. Midkiff presented an overhead with questions from the previous meetings and the answers to those questions. The information is as follows:

Requested Information from Public Hearings. 

  How would the tax rate be affected if Whitebead Public Schools were to annex Paoli Public Schools? 

-Based off of the 2024 Estimate of Needs valuations and 2024 outstanding bond issues:  

 Whitebead's taxpayers would see a 1.9 mils increase from 2.33 in 2024 to an estimated 4.23 in 2025. 

 Paoli would see a 1.57 mils decrease from 5.80 in 2024 to an estimated 4.23 in 2025. 

Both millages are very low compared to other school districts in the area. (Stratford- 23.67, Maysville- 10.96, Lindsay- 12.81, Pauls Valley- 27.29, Wynnewood- 12.10, Elmore City- 11.76)

Impact on the Taxpayer

24-25 Tax Amount	25-26 Tax Amount	Annual Increase	Monthly Increase
$50.00	$51.27	$1.27	$0.11
$100.00	$102.55	$2.55	$0.21
$500.00	$512.73	$12.73	$1.06
$800.00	$820.37	$20.37	$1.70
$1,000.00	$1025.46	$25.46	$2.12

How much would it raise taxes if Whitebead wanted to have a high school in its current location without an annexation?

$13,500,000 - Series Building Bond Issue - 2026-2044 (Last Tax Levy 2045)
           Projected Tax Increase - 37.00%
          Projected Available Funds (as of _______) - $7.630 - $7.830 Million

* We do not believe this would be enough money for Whitebead to build a high school that the SDE would accept for a move from K-8 to K-12.

How much money would the State Department of Education give Whitebead for one-time money to complete annexation?

SDE estimates the amount to be $752,300, which is $5,000 X 150.46 ADM for Paoli at the midterm adjustment on Oct. 1st of 2024. 

How would students who are enrolled in Whitebead and have an open transfer be affected? 

All open transfer students would have to reapply because the district would have a new distrcit code and all those transfers would have to be able to be tracked by OEQA(Office of Educational Quality and Accountability). 

Would voters in the Whitebead School District vote for or against the annexation of Paoli?

Both boards of education would have to vote to concur to send a letter of resolution to the State Superintendent of Schools. At that time, the State Superintendent would send it to the county election board and only the voters in Paoli school district would vote. They would vote to approve annexation to Whitebead. 

Would a new school board be put in place after the annexation?

Should an annexation be approved, the Governor would appoint three board members and those three board members would then appoint two additional members.

Has a decision been made on what students will attend the campus currently located in Paoli?

 Due to the fact that a new board of education will be formed, the questions about transportation, placement of grades at certain facilities, personnel etc. can not be answered. All those decisions would be made by the new 5-member board. 

Twelve members of the community spoke at the meeting.  They were as follows:

1. Deanya Brobst- Deanya expressed her concern about whom the new board would consist of.
2. Ed Tillery-Ed Tillery expressed his concern that he did not see any benefits for Whitebead in going forward with the annexation.  He had concerns about transportation, transfers, Whitebead property owners taxes increasing, added maintenance, and not knowing who would be on the school board.
3. Everett Plummer-Everett supported all of Ed Tillery's comments.  He has lots of questions that he would like answered, such as who will be the superintendent, what is the plan for the buildings and staff, will the property owners be allowed to vote, what will the name of the school be.  Everett encouraged the board members to engage with auditors to review both schools' financial information.  Everett supplied a handout of the information he had compiled.  It is attached to the minutes.
4. Audra Plummer-Audra stated that she liked K-8 schools for numerous reasons, some of them being that students can transfer to any school district they want when they leave, one campus, and K-8's are traditionally good stewards of their funds.
5. Peyton Manning-Peyton stated that he was in favor of annexation.  He attended both schools and feels like the number of opportunities available in Paoli was invaluable.  He feels like being in a smaller school setting, he was able to excel in sports and leadership opportunities.  He also likes the smaller teacher to student ratio.
6. Jay Salgado-Jay had questions about assuming the debt of Paoli school system and school choice. 
7. Darrell Blankenship-Darrell had questions about transfers and transportation.
8. Ricky Manning-Ricky said it was a compliment to Whitebead that Paoli asked them to annex.  Ricky says both schools are full of pride, and he cares for both schools.
9. Nathan Tillery-Nathan is a past Whitebead graduate who moved back to Pauls Valley recently with the intent of sending their future children to Whitebead.  He does not want to see the school change.
10. Lisa Whitman-Lisa wants Whitebead to stay Whitebead.  Lisa understands the concerns of Paoli and would love to help them in any other way we can without annexing. 
11.  Tod Poyner-Tod has a love for both schools.  He is worried about Whitebead being able to financially keep up both sites.
12. Angela Poyner-Angela has a love for both schools.  She has concerns because we do not know who will be on the school board.