Location Of Potential School A Hot Topic At Ewing

​Discussion of a potential future school merger dominated talks once again at the Ewing Board of Education meeting on Thursday night.

With representatives from Clearwater in attendance, the Ewing Board of Education discussed the potential merger, noting that it was going to have to be a three-school ordeal or not at all. With Orchard having officially voted to pull out of talks earlier in the week, the focus turned to Elgin and Neligh-Oakdale’s interest in the merger. 

It was learned during the meeting that Elgin had officially pulled out of talks, meaning Neligh-Oakdale is the last member currently in the talks that would need to approve the merger discussions in order to move on. That led discussion toward the potential location of a new school, a sticking point to a few board members. 

“One thing that worries me is, or not necessarily worries I guess, if you go to the east side of Neligh-Oakdale district and the west side of Ewing district and you figure a middle point to build a school, that’s going to be pretty close to Neligh,” said board president Mark Ramold.

“Its the Royal road,” noted Pete Funk.

When the original talks began, including Orchard, the school would be closer to Ewing. If a school merger were to go through with Neligh-Oakdale, Clearwater and Ewing, it would be about twice the distance. 

“I guess I’d just gotten where I liked the idea of six miles instead,” said Ramold.

“So did I but (Orchard) pulled themselves out,” said Funk.

Apart from the location, the board maintained that the primary priority when looking at the school options is and will be the education of the students.