SORENTO, Ill. — The effort to save a local school from closing hit a snag after a mix-up at the Regional Office of Education caused a hearing to be postponed.
Since the Bond County School Board voted to shutter Sorento School parents in the community have been seeking a split from the district.
“We believe that the quality of the education that they would get in Mt. Olive is greater than what they would get from the Bond Co. Unit No. 2 district,” said Phil Dean.
“More than 900 people signed our petition,” said Melissa Goymerac
However, the Regional Office of Education has postponed a hearing that could potentially save Sorento School by allowing it to separate from Bond Co. and join the Mt. Olive School District.
“We feel like we’re just being denied and delayed as much as possible to push this off for at least another year,” said Dean.
Regional Superintendent Julie Wollerman provided this statement on the incident: “The hearing was postponed when I discovered that the date of decision being enacted depends on when the legal order (decision of the hearing) is filed. Because the hearing was scheduled for the evening of the 30th, the order would be filed at the earliest on July 1st, thus pushing the date of enactment to July 1, 2023. The petitioners wanted the ruling for enactment this school year so my office did everything we could to make that happen. When I realized Monday it wouldn't, I postponed the hearing to give my office more time to review all materials and better prepare for the hearing. I anticipate the hearing will be held in August.”
“It’s beyond frustrating,” said Goymerac. “The people who are hurt are our kids. The people who are hurt by this continued uncertainty are our kids.”
“We’ve got to have a hearing to figure this out,” said Jack Wall. “We’ve got to do what’s best for the kids. We don’t want to have them in limbo mode of where am I going to go to school this year. That’s not good for anybody.”
One Bond County School Board member told 5 On Your Side the move effectively draws a line through Sorento splitting roughly 120 students between Pocahontas and Greenville.
“Bond County thinks that they’re going to get all of the kids out here but they’re not,” said Dean. “They might get a percentage, but they’re not going to get them all. My two being two they’re not going to get.”
“We’ve been investigating private schools,” said Goymerac. “We’ve been investigating home school possibilities. I don’t know that we will send our kids to Greenville in the fall.”
As the hearing process drags out it’s increasingly likely Sorento School will sit empty for the upcoming school year.
“Somebody is going to have to fit the bill for this,” said Dean. “If it remains part of the Bond Co. Unit #2 district then our tax money is going to pay to maintain this building for no reason.”
“The fight will go on,” said Goymerac. “This doesn’t detour us for any way. We’re going to continue to do what we feel is best for our kids, and that’s attach to Mt. Olive.”
Bond Co. Superintendent Wes Olson provided this statement on the situation: “Because this matter is still pending before the regional board, we will be refraining from additional comment at this time. We would, however, encourage any parents who may have been waiting on this decision to contact our offices in order to register their children for the 2022-2023 school year. Registration will re-open on Monday, July 25th. Please be assured that the Board of Education remains committed to providing educational programs and extracurricular offerings of the highest quality to all District students.”
There is an informational community cookout at the Shoal Creek Fire Department in Sorento on June 30th at 6:30.