By Tina Kitt
    The Wauneta Breeze
    
     In August 1992, when high school students from Wauneta and Palisade began classes together at the newly formed Wauneta-Palisade School District No. 536, most of the rough spots in the transition had long been worked out. For two years high school students from the two schools attended classes together in Wauneta under a cooperative agreement, with both districts operating under separate budgets.
     Junior high students from the two towns had gotten to know each other better under the cooperative agreement as well, with junior high students from Wauneta traveling to Palisade for afternoon classes under the cooperative agreement.
     During the 1991-92 school year, the last year the two schools had separate budgets and separate graduating classes, high school enrollment at Palisade was 22. That was up slightly from the previous year's 18 ninth-12th graders, including a sophomore class that had one student.
     Wauneta had 72 high school students, 23 junior high kids and 129 K-6 youngsters during the 1991-92 school year.
     Legislation enacted by the Unicameral during the early 1990s forced the closure of high schools with en-rollements of less than 25 students for two consecutive years, bringing the issue to the fore as both districts faced dwindling class sizes.
     Enrollment at WP that first year after the merger totalled 311 students. Combined enrollment at the two schools one year earlier had been 338. Kindergarten through sixth grade enrollment at the Wauneta Attend-ence Center the first year of the merger was 114. K-6 enrollment at the Palisade Attendance Center was 56. The junior high and high school grades had a combined enrollment of 141.
     K-12 enrollment at Wauneta-Palisade hit an all-time high of 336 in 1996-97 and has been on the decline since. In the fall of 2004, K-12 enrollment at WP was 250.
     The merger agreement stipulated that seventh and eighth grade classes would be held in Palisade for at least half the school day for all students.
     Beginning with the 1992-93 school year, however, with the two districts merged into one, Wauneta-Palisade junior high students attended classes together all day in Palisade, with 32 students in the seventh grade and 23 students in the eighth grade. The decision for all day combined junior high was made to form a more cohesive group of students and better utilize staff, according to reports in The Wauneta Breeze.
     Secondary education teachers drove back and forth between Wauneta and Palisade to teach both high school and junior high classes during that time.
     Dennis Wentz, who played a key role in making the merger a reality, was superintendent of the new district, with Chuck Hervert the principal at Palisade and Jim Manker the principal at Wauneta. In 1994, Wentz resigned to accept a superintendent position in Fairbury and Randy Marymee was hired as superintendent.
     For four years the newly formed district continued to operate much as it had that first year, with each community hosting a K-6 attendance center, junior high classes and activities held in Palisade, and high school classes and activities held in Wauneta.
     In 1996, Manker was named interim superintendent replacing Marymee, who served as WP administrator for two years.
    
    Budget constraints
    force changes
     Even with the merger in place, enrollments continued to fall, some years, depending on class sizes, the third and fourth grade classes were combined in Wau-neta and the fifth and sixth grade classes combined in Palisade.
     Initially, cost-savings from the merger were fairly limited. The school budget for the 1992-93 school year, the first year of the merger, was $2.144 million, a savings of roughly $1,000 from the two districts' combined budget of $2.145 million the previous year.
     Cost savings to the new district were realized over time as teaching positions were eliminated and programs were scaled back. Administrators cited combining elementary classes as effective cost-saving measures instead of filling teaching positions when they were vacated.
     Changes in the state-aid formula in the mid-1990s helped ease the district's budget crunch. State aid increased from $118,000 in the early years of the merger to $372,000 by the 1996-97 school year.
     Still, inefficiencies were targeted for further cost-savings, especially having teachers shuttling back and forth during the school day to teach junior high and high school students at buildings 15 miles apart. Actions by the state legislature had an impact on school district decisions as well.
     In 1997, with LB 1114 set to take effect the following year, school board members and administration struggled with ways to comply with pending levy lid mandated by the legislation.
     Under LB 1114, Nebraska's schools would be limited to a property tax levy of $1.10 on $100 of assessed value. Levy lids were set to drop to $1 by 2001.
     For the 1997-98 school year, the board had approved a levy of $1.39451.
     Starting with the 1997-98 school year, WP kindergartners began attending school all day long, five days a week. That move increased the district's state aid by $47,000.
    
    Junior high moved to Wauneta,
    fifth and sixth to Palisade
     In the fall of 1997, the WP school board began open discussions on moving the junior high to the Wauneta Attendance Center. At an October 1997 school board meeting, Manker said that based on present valuations, the district needed to cut $376,000 from the budget to meet the $1.10 levy limit mandated by LB 1114. By moving the junior high to Wauneta, said Manker, the district would realize savings of $90,000 a year.
     Manker also noted that another $50,000 could be saved by moving Wauneta's fifth and sixth graders to Palisade, which would reduce staffing costs. Since this arrangement would change the Wauneta K-6 grade arrangement, Wauneta patrons in the original district would have to approve it, in keeping with the terms of the agreement.
     Board members said a patron vote would not be required to move the junior high. According to a Wauneta Breeze report of that meeting:
     "Board President Rod Wheeler reminded patrons of the merger agreement between the two districts. It said no changes could be made in the K-6 attendance centers at either Wauneta or Palisade, without a vote of the respective patrons of the old districts. The agreement also said there would be no changes in the junior high arrangement for a period of five years. Wheeler noted that time period had expired."
     In January 1998, the school board gave approval to seek a vote from among patrons of the original Wauneta district allowing for the move of fifth and sixth grade students to Palisade. The board's proposal to move the junior high to Wauneta would hinge on whether voter approval was given to move the Wauneta fifth and sixth grades to Palisade.
     Over the next several months, Manker held a series of community meetings to discuss the proposal. At one point confusion arose over which patrons would end up with control over the fifth and sixth graders from Wauneta if patrons voted to send them to Palisade.
     Originally, Manker and the school board believed that in order for those students to ever resume elementary classes in Wauneta a vote would be required by voters of the original Palisade district. After further discussion with legal counsel, the board arrived at a different conclusion.
     According to a Breeze report:
     "Since only the Wauneta students would be moved back and the original makeup at the Palisade Attendance Center would not change, Palisade voters would not vote on the issue. Manker did note that since the K-4 makeup in Wauneta would be altered to a K-6 again, approval would be necessary from original Wauneta district voters. Such a vote would be in accordance with the original merger agreement."
     On March 10, 1998, patrons of the original Wauneta district approved moving the Wauneta fifth and sixth grades to the Palisade Attendance Center. Final election results showed that 343 voters in the original Wauneta district cast ballots on the question, with 271 voting for the proposal and 72 voters opposing the move.
     No vote was taken among patrons of the former Palisade school district.
     In August 1998, following school board approval to move the junior high, all junior high and high school students attended classes in Wauneta. All fifth and sixth graders in the district attended classes in Palisade. Both communities retained K-4 elementary attendance centers.