Annexation, other matters need to be determined for South Middle School

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.”

Huff said the district employs a Joplin police officer full time at East Middle School in Duquesne, which opened in August. That officer received a commission into the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department in order to have authority to act outside city limits. Copeland said a similar measure would likely be no problem for Newton County, provided district officials ask for it.

“We don’t provide SROs but if they are going to use one from Joplin, he will have to be commissioned by me if he’s going to enforce laws,” Copeland said. “Certainly, we will offer law-enforcement protection like we do for several other schools outside city limits in the county, like Westview, East Newton and Triways.”

Huff said the district has school zone traffic signs ready to install along 50th Street, but said there has been no attempt to approach either Leawood or the Newton County Commission about an ordinance to lower the speed limit. An ordinance would be required to allow officers to enforce the reduced speed limit.

Newton County Commissioner Jerry Black said the commission has not received a request from the district, but would consider one if asked.

“One thing about the speed limit ... the issue is (the) village of Leawood has no court system to do any fines or anything like that,” he said. “They would have to have agreements with the court system in the county.”

Huff said the district is waiting on Leawood’s decision before proceeding.

“The question is jurisdiction, because if it changes, do you go through the process twice?” he said. “That’s what we need to know from Leawood Village. We need to know about some of their processes and that’s what this meeting is about coming up. Let’s get it all on the table.

“It’s a school zone. It’s going to be a 20 mph speed limit through there,” he said. “And if not it’s going to become a liability for somebody if we’re not allowed to do that. So we’re going to get there.”

Annexing issues

Construction on the new South Middle School is expected to be completed by the end of November. Huff said the district will work through the holidays to outfit the building with the necessary computer and telephone infrastructure to open by Jan. 1.

Missouri law states that in order to annex a property, the city and the property being annexed must have contiguous or adjoining edges. The South Middle School plot abuts city property on the southeast, southwest, and northwest corners of the lot, according to a survey conducted by the Joplin zoning and planning department.

Some village residents on Friday said they support deannexation.

“From the standpoint of Joplin services like police and fire, it would make sense to me that the school would want to be a part of Joplin, so they can benefit from the services,” said Scott Eastman, who lives along the 5000 block of Brookwood Drive.

Neighbor Ethel Mahoney echoed his sentiments.

“I’d agree (the school) needs Joplin, as big as it is,” she said. “It doesn’t really matter to me, given the size of the school and the amount of help they would need.”

“We want to do everything we can do for the safety of the kids,” Leawood Village board member Denny Desmond said last week. He added that several residents hope to find out what the district will do about a proposed sidewalk on the south side of 50th Street for children walking to school. “We’re hoping to resolve a lot of these issues once the public hearing is held.”

Desmond also said some residents have spoken in favor of reaching an agreement between the village and Joplin police for protection of the school property, similar to an arrangement between Duquesne and Joplin for services at East Middle School.

“What we are going to ask the school district is would it be better to come up with a similar agreement to what’s in place in with Duquesne, rather than going through annexation?” he said. “My understanding is basically the thrust of it is Joplin police and fire departments have primary responsibility (in the event of an emergency).”

Huff said he has some concerns about a sidewalk.

“Certainly on the surface that appears to be a good idea,” he said. “My concern is with the deep ditches we have there and not knowing what the traffic flow is going to be. Keep in mind there are no sidewalks to the school in Duquesne either because there’s no shoulder on that road. Ideally parents in this particular location will bring their kids to school.

“It all comes down to what Leawood Village wants,” Huff said. “We’re willing to do whatever, but the issue for us is we just want to be sure we’re able to provide that continuum of services that we’re already providing to our other facilities.”

If the village approves deannexation, Huff said he is confident the district could work out annexation in time for school to start in January.

“My understanding of the process is it’s just a matter of Leawood deannexing, and whether the city (of Joplin) is willing to annex it in,” he said. “The people I’ve talked with at the city didn’t seem to think it would be a problem, and I assume it would go smoothly. We have a great relationship with the city and they know it’s important.”

City time frame

But Joplin city officials last week estimated the time frame for annexation under a best-case-scenario at about three months. If the Village of Leawood board voted to deannex the property, the district would then have to go before the Joplin zoning and planning commission for a hearing.

Troy Bolander, the city’s planning and community development director, said the commission meets once a month, typically on the second Monday. He also said the city would need roughly a month’s notice in order to provide adequate time to announce the hearing.

“All annexations take a public hearing,” he said. “We have a notification process we have to go through, which includes advertising the public hearing.”

If an annexation measure is approved by the zoning commission, that recommendation would be forwarded to the City Council for a hearing and action. That process would require at least two City Council meetings.

Bolander said ordinances typically don’t go into effect until at least 20 days after they have been approved by the council.

If a written objection to the proposed annexation is filed with the governing body of the village within 14 days of the public hearing by at least 5 percent of the qualified voters of the village or area sought to be annexed, then an election may be called on the question, according to Missouri law.

Huff said regardless of the time frame, he is confident the district will have the necessary emergency support services in place for the school to open.

“The bottom line is, regardless of when we move in, the facility will be complete and safe and have everything it needs to operate and function as a school,” he said. “Certainly we don’t want to get into a situation where it’s not quite finished yet, and we feel the pressure to move in. I think it would be an immature decision on the district’s part if the building’s not ready to move kids in.”

Hearing set for Tuesday

A public hearing with residents in Leawood on South Middle School issues will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Newton County Sheriff’s Satellite Station, 506 E. 32nd St., in Joplin.

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