By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

Joplin school district officials hope a public hearing Tuesday with residents in Leawood will tell them how to proceed on issues needing attention before South Middle School opens.

Superintendent C.J. Huff said the district is waiting on village residents to decide whether they will proceed with a deannexation proposal that he hopes will allow the city of Joplin to annex the property.

“We’ll know what the plan is going to be after the meeting next Tuesday night because that’s the first step in the process,” Huff said. “If Leawood Village isn’t interested in deannexation, then obviously we’ll have to take a different approach.”

The district plans to open the new middle school at 700 E. 50th St. in January for the spring semester. Huff said the district is asking for deannexation in hopes the city of Joplin will be able to take over the area and provide emergency services for the district.

“The city of Joplin, we’ve worked with them on all our emergency plans,” he said. “We include them in the development of those plans. It’s really important for us that we have that single point of contact and have that continuous type of service that we’re already receiving.”

Sheriff’s concerns

Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland raised concerns recently about “a lack of communication” between the district and county officials over several safety issues.

“The school system in Joplin has had zero communications with us about anything,” Copeland said. “I would have thought all this would have been addressed and worked out before they even started digging the foundation, because there’s a lot of things that need to be addressed.”

The sheriff said he has advised district officials of the need for a formal request to the Newton County Commission to lower the speed limits on 50th Street to 25 mph near the school, and of the need to voluntarily commission a Joplin police officer into his department to serve as a school resource officer.

“I think they were unaware that Joplin had no jurisdiction out there,” Copeland said. “As of right now, (the school) sits in Newton County, and law enforcement will be handled by Newton County.

“I guess they’re counting on this annexation into Joplin. Looks to me like they’ve put all their eggs in one basket.”

Huff acknowledged that he had not discussed the resource officer issue with Copeland.

“We want to continue to have a school resource officer out there,” he said. “All those pieces will come together. Regardless, we’re still going to have service out there, so that’s not an issue.”