Territory transfer between Mabton, Prosser school districts fails

The Prosser and Mabton school districts have rejected a petition from a group of families who wanted to move their homes into Prosser’s boundaries to guarantee their children could attend schools in the Benton County district.

Mabton’s school board rejected the petition when it met this week, said Superintendent Minerva Morales. Prosser’s board turned down the request at a Jan. 19 meeting.

That means another petition to move the homes near the intersection of Byron Hill Road and Highway 22 can’t be considered for another five years, said Tom Fleming, chief financial officer for Educational Service District 105 in Yakima.

State law allows for those who filed the petition to appeal to a county Superior Court, but its supporters haven’t indicated they will take that course. Rachel Shaw, Prosser’s city clerk who led the effort, said she had no hard feelings.

“While I’m disappointed about the vote, and so are the neighbors, I understand (the district’s) concerns,” Shaw said.

Shaw and her neighbors began actively pursuing the transfer in early 2015, collecting signatures for the petition before submitting it to the ESD, which oversees territory transfers.

The neighborhood, which overlooks the Yakima River and Sunnyside Wildlife Recreation Area, is relatively new and was marketed with Prosser addresses, though it sits on the Yakima County side of the county line and roughly halfway between the city centers of Mabton and Prosser. More than a dozen school-age children live in the area.

Most of the adult residents work in Prosser, and some children in the neighborhood attend Prosser daycares and after-school activities. Home buyers were told that they’d have the option of sending their kids to Prosser or Mabton, according to Shaw, but Prosser stopped accepting new transfer students years ago because of overcrowding, though it allowed those already attending to remain.

Morales wasn’t available for further comment on the Mabton School Board’s rejection of the petition. A letter sent by Morales to Fleming on the board’s decision said it “was based on the negotiations with Prosser School District and on the needs and best interest of the Mabton School District.”

Overcrowding was one of the primary motivations the Prosser School Board rejected the petition, Superintendent Ray Tolcacher said. While the territory transfer would have added only two children, it could have set a precedent where those living near the boundary in other districts also would seek a transfer. The district also is trying to prepare for an influx of children from a planned housing development.

“We have more portable (classrooms) than anyone else around us,” Tolcacher said. “It’s an issue of classroom space.”

The board also wanted to maintain a good relationship with Mabton, which would have been affected by losing assessed property that determines how much its taxpayers pay for levies and bonds.

There’s still a possibility those children living off Byron Hill Road and not already attending Prosser schools could be allowed to. The Prosser board is scheduled to consider allowing the siblings of transfer students already grandfathered into the district to enroll as well. Tolcacher said that could also lead to more transfer requests but “I definitely think it’s a discussion our board should have.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Territory transfer between Mabton, Prosser school districts fails."