Greenwood, Loyal boards approve RFP for facility study, putting consolidation question on November ballot

Greenwood and Loyal voters will have the final say in 2026 on whether their districts consolidate, after both school boards last week approved a binding referendum and a facility study to map out how a merged district would function. The boards of both districts met together in Loyal on Wednesday to approve sending out a request for proposal (RFP) for a facility study and to formally agree they would take the question back to the voters.

Request for proposal An RFP is a formal document a buyer issues to potential vendors to solicit proposals for a specific project — in this case, a facility study regarding the most effective use of the Greenwood and Loyal school buildings under a consolidated district. The districts planned to jointly issue an RFP this past Monday. Proposals are due Oct. 31. Finalist interviews and presentations will be held Nov. 3-7, with an anticipated award date of Nov. 12. The selected company is expected to complete its facility study and present its findings to the joint board no later than April 30, 2026.

As a reminder, the boards have set July 1, 2028, as their goal date of beginning operation as a consolidated district.

The two boards had the opportunity to look at a draft RFP before the meeting and suggest changes. The RFP says the results of the facility study “may include scenarios or recommendations for the future structure of the joint district.”

Loyal board president Derek Weyer said he was happy with the RFP and felt it was general enough.

“I don’t think we want one consultant to come in and say, ‘It has to be this.’ Because we saw in 2007 that’s what happened and nothing was done with it. We’re 18 years after the 2007 study, and nothing of that study has transpired. So by having options and scenarios that the board can then discuss together, we can then come up with a plan that could potentially be implemented… Maybe we can get further than we did in previous discussions,” said Weyer.

Board member Matt Kubista was a bit bothered by the wording that the study “ may include scenarios” for the structuring of the future district (emphasis added) and felt that a better word would be “shall.”

“The word ‘may’ gives a lot of wiggle room whereas ‘shall’ is you have to do this,” he said. “When it’s on a ballot vote, the voters should have a plan in front of them of where the schools will be and the referendum dollar amount.”

“And I would say the reason the word ‘may’ is in there is you as a board have the choice of picking the vendor for the RFP,” replied Greenwood District Administrator Joe Green. “So if you have four people bid this, and one of them does not have in there that they will give recommendations or scenarios, you have the option not to choose them… And RFPs are meant to be vague to give vendors flexibility to do their job. And you probably will find that some will meet your needs more directly than others.”

He said too that part of the consolidation process would be both boards agreeing to a consolidation order that they would need to pass in December 2026. The order has to

Please see Greenwood/Loyal, page 9 include certain pieces of information, such as the name of the new school district, election plan for new school board members, number of school board members, time and date of the first annual meeting, and consolidation effective date. Beyond that, board members can decide how specific or vague they want to go with it. So if they wanted to include a plan for the structuring of the new district in the order, they could certainly do that.

Someone also asked who would be doing the interviews with the companies that had submitted RFPs.

“The interviews will probably include administration, members of both boards, and maybe even members of the public to quash any rumors it was pre-determined,” said Weyer.

Greenwood board member Dean Lindner also asked if a deadline of April 30 was enough time to prepare a plan and present it the public before a binding consolidation vote in November. He asked if they ought to amend the RFP to include the date the company could have it done by, if earlier than April.

“I think as part of the interview process we can ask if April is sufficient or if they could have it done even earlier, like February,” said Green.

“I’m good with that,” said Lindner. Greenwood’s Shawn Kolano made a motion, seconded by Luke Smith, to approve the RFP as presented. All voted aye.

On the Loyal side, Kubista made a motion, seconded by Kirk Haslow, to approve the RFP. That also passed unanimously.

Binding referendum vote The boards also agreed that they would bring forth another question on consolidation to be voted on in the November 2026 election. The difference is, while last April’s vote was advisory, this upcoming vote will be binding, meaning the districts will be obligated to follow the results of the vote. If even one of the districts votes “no” on consolidation, the districts cannot move forward with it. However, if both districts vote “yes,” then the boards will proceed to pass a resolution ordering consolidation in December 2026. That will start an 18-month clock before the two districts merge into one on July 1, 2028.

“I feel passionate we should go to a referendum question,” said Weyer. “If the RFP is done properly, we can take it to the public with plenty of time for them to make an educated decision.”

“I agree that the public needs the chance to vote on a plan,” said Loyal board member Nikki Rueth.

“And, in those 18 months between December 2026 and July 2028, that will be your time to figure out how to execute the plan,” said Green.

If the boards were not to ask a binding referendum question in November, members of the public could still force the issue to a vote if 10% of the electorate of one of the districts filed a petition. Then it would go on the ballot on April. However, board members were inclined to not want that to happen and would rather put it in front of the public right away.

“I agree with Derek [Weyer] — we’re going to present the information to the public and let them decide,” said Kolano. “If you put it on the ballot, it takes out that 10% option. You put it on the ballot and it’s done.”

Both boards voted unanimously to have a binding referendum question placed on the November 2026 ballot.

Now that the boards have voted yes to going back to the voters, they can start working on a referendum question. However, the language of that question may be informed by the results of the facility study and any consolidation plan that is developed.

Upcoming meeting The boards also planned their next joint meeting, which will be Oct. 15 at Greenwood High School. The meeting will begin with a tour of Greenwood School District facilities at 6 p.m., starting at Door 3 of the high school. The sit-down meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the high school cafetorium. Both are open to the public.