Culbertson vote favors Trenton, Stratton unification

Nineteen-month-old Kathleen Bair peeks around her mother's shoulder as they exit the polling booth in Culbertson Tuesday evening. Susy Bair and other Culbertson school district patrons were asked on their ballots to decide between continuing a unification with Trenton and Stratton or merging with McCook. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

CULBERTSON -- The majority of Culbertson school district patrons who cast ballots in an advisory vote Tuesday want the Culbertson-Trenton-Stratton unified school district to continue.

The vote -- not a legally-binding election -- was 179 for the unification and 153 for a merger with McCook Public Schools.

Culbertson school board president Nancy Frecks said 334 voters cast ballots. "That's not quite half of our voters," Frecks said, "but I'm pleased with the turnout."

Twenty-three votes were cast early, at the courthouse in Trenton during the week before the Tuesday election. During the special board meeting that immediately followed the closing of the polling place and the counting of the ballots, board members rejected two of the early ballots because the two voters had registered to vote on Monday, April 25 and cast their ballots the same day; the board had agreed that voter registration for the election would end Friday, April 22.

Culbertson Superintendent Cindy Huff told a patron that her board has instructed her to sign all option enrollment requests (from parents/guardians requesting that their child(ren) attend school in another school district) presented to her. Huff explained that the school district into which parents are optioning their children will still need to act upon the requests, with most board decisions based upon whether or not there is ample room in a class or program for more students.

The Culbertson board will take official action on the vote results during its regular board meeting Monday. Board members voted during a meeting in March to abide by the results of the advisory vote, although the results of such a vote are not legally binding.

County Clerk Margaret Pollmann said the advisory vote and counting were conducted as well as and as professionally as a legally-binding election. "Our receiving and counting boards did a good job -- a very precise and professional job," Pollmann said.