Vote set on consolidation

The Kremlin-Gildford and Blue Sky school boards have selected a date for voters to decide whether the districts should consolidate.

The K-G school board voted Wednesday to hold the election on June 22, and Blue Sky is moving its election to the same date.

"We're going to be doing it the same day so one school doesn't know the results from the other before they vote," Blue Sky Superintendent Terry Grant said today.

State law requires that districts considering consolidation each hold an election. Voters must approve the consolidation before it can move forward.

The next step will be to file the requested election dates with the Hill County Clerk and Recorder's Office.

The two Hi-Line boards this month approved holding an election, then hit a minor snag. The process set up by state law requires that the first step is asking the county superintendent of schools to call for an election, then the boards neglected to do that.

Once that step was out of the way, the boards proceeded to plan the elections, with Blue Sky asking it be held on June 8 in conjunction with the primary election.

Ballard said Hill County Clerk and Recorder Diane Mellem said it would be better not to hold the election in conjunction with the primary, so the districts decided to hold it on a different day.

Mellem was not available for comment this morning.

Grant said the Blue Sky board set its election date contingent on KG's election date, so the resolution now will be amended to the new date.

If voters approve consolidation, the county superintendent would appoint an interim board to oversee the consolidation and initial operation of the consolidated districts, with the positions on the board filled through staggered elections after the appointments are made.