March 28, 2024

Creston, Prescott consolidation goes to vote April 7

A special election to continue with the process of consolidating Prescott School District with Creston is scheduled for April 7.

The polls will open at noon at Prescott City Hall in Prescott, and Southwestern Community College and Crest Baptist Church in Creston, and stay open until 8 p.m.

Unofficial results will be tallied that night and posted on the Union County Auditor’s website, and the official results will be known the following Monday.

“It’s time that the community decides, particularly the Prescott side,” said Steve McDermott, Creston and Prescott superintendent. “The important part for me is that they’re getting a choice, and we’ll do the best we can for the kids involved.”

Discussion to consolidate the school districts has been in the works since 2013. Part of the discussion to continue with the consolidation included tax levy rates. Creston tax levy will decrease from $15.18 to $14.46, while Prescott tax levy will increase from $12.00 to $14.46 over the course of four years.

“Our hope is that we get a strong turnout just so this particular decision is made by as many registered voters as possible,” McDermott said. “The (Prescott) school was exactly 100 years old this year, it’s been there a long time. And, of course, we have so few students right now that this decision has been forced upon us, but we want the communities to tell us what they feel they’d like to do with the school district. So, as many voters as possible is what we hope for.”

The board members collected signatures on petitions from each school district. Creston received 489 signatures out of a required 400, and Prescott received 107 signatures out of a required 90.

After the petitions were filed, Green Hills AEA scheduled a meeting to discuss the consolidation and make a decision. The meeting concluded Feb. 10 with the petition approved, with one exception, and the final decision to continue with the process to consolidate to be sent to the voters.