Flo-Oakwood separation petition drive underway

For several weeks, a group of concerned citizens in the old Lone Star Rural High School District has been working to organize an attempt to detach from the Oakwood Independent School District. The LSRHSD became a part of OISD in 1971 when Justice William Wayne Justice mandated the action.

The group needs 51% of the registered voters in the old LSRHSD to sign a petition to withdraw from OISD and divide the district between Buffalo and Centerville ISDs. Regular meetings are being held to accomplish this task.

There are several issues driving this effort. One is the large number of children in the district who transfer to either Buffalo or Centerville schools and the small number who attend Oakwood. Another is the inability to get someone from the old district elected to the OISD school board. The residents of the old district feel they have no voice. The distance that children must travel to attend Oakwood is also a major concern. The district extends within a few miles of both Centerville and Buffalo.

Barbara Johnson, a resident in the LSRHSD, is a major organizer of the campaign. She has obtained a list of registered voters who live in the Lone Star District and is enlisting individuals to help her contact these people in order to obtain signatures for the petition.

According to Johnson, 64 students transfer out of the Oakwood district with 41 attending BISD and 17 going to Centerville. The number of students from the old Lone Star District who go to OISD has not been made available. All three districts’ school boards have been made aware of the drive for petition.

Oakwood ISD recently passed a school bond for new construction. Taking the 700 registered voters in the old Lone Star District out would severely impact the OISD tax base. The remaining property owners would have to absorb the tax increase for the bond.