Wynot School Filed Petitions
HARTINGTON — A total of 47 landowners in the Wynot School District have filed petitions to have their land transferred into the Hartington School District
Cedar County Clerk Dave Dowling said the parcels, which could be transferred out of the Wynot District, now carry a total value of $11,652,000, which is approximately 15 percent of the total value of the Wynot School District.
The Free-holder Board in Cedar County has set Wednesday, July 26 for the hearing on 31 of the freeholder petitions, which were filed with the County Clerk shortly after July 1.
The Hartington School Board passed a resolution to approve the petitions at their July 10 meeting.
The additional filings from 16 land owners will be acted on by the Hartington School Board on Aug. 21.
After the petitions are accepted by the adjoining school district, they have to be either approved or disapproved by the Free-holder Board which consists of the Cedar County Clerk, Assessor, and Treasurer.
The Free-holder Board will make a decision based on if the petitions meet the qualifications listed in state statute.
July 1 was the first day the County Clerk could begin taking freeholder petitions from landowners who want to move their property out of a school district and into an adjoining district under Statute 79-458.
Wynot is the only school in Cedar County that is currently affected by the freeholding statute.
According to the statute, the following conditions must exist:
-The Class II or III district, which the land owner is moving from, has had an average daily membership in high school of less than 60 for two consecutive years.
-The district has voted to exceed the maximum school levy.
The land owners who are petitioning their land out of the Wynot District will have to pay taxes to Wynot for one more year, according to Dowling. 
Once the land is transferred into the Hartington School district, it will stay there, he said.
Dowling said there is no deadline for people to petition to move their land out of the district. If they petition too late in the year, however, they might not be able to move their property until the next tax year.