Some residents of the Featherstone subdivision, just off SH 146 on the north end of Liberty, want to leave the Hardin Independent School District and become a part of Liberty ISD, and to that end have submitted a petition to Libertys school board requesting annexation.

At a special-called meeting Monday night, Feb. 24, the Liberty ISD board heard arguments for and against annexing the roughly 1,700 acres that have been a part of Hardin ISD, as far as anyone knows, as long as that school district has existed.

Both Liberty and Hardin have free transfer policies allowing students to chose where to attend school, and many of the school-aged residents of Featherstone attend Liberty schools. The subdivision is within the city limits of Liberty and closer to Liberty High School than to Hardin High, but Libertys buses do not run to Featherstone because it is outside their district.

According to annexation supporters at Monday nights meeting, most students living in Featherstone go to Liberty schools.

Local attorney Matthew Gott spoke before the Liberty board on behalf of those seeking annexation.

While a number of reasons were put forward favoring annexation, including that Liberty has a golf team and Hardin does not, the real issue came down, as it must, to a discussion of money.

Should Liberty ISD successfully annex Featherstone, the district will obtain not only the students living there and add the subdivisions property to its tax rolls, but the district will also very likely receive a proportional share of Hardin ISDs debt.

At the same time, Hardin ISD would lose the property from its tax base just as that district is preparing for a bond election in the hope of building a new elementary school.

Hardin ISD Board member Jerry Ursprung, a resident of Featherstone, spoke to the Liberty board and argued against annexation saying that Hardin cannot afford the loss of that $18 million worth of its tax base.

Liberty Superintendent Dr. Cody Abshier wondered, too, whether the reduction of its tax base would hurt Hardins ability to shoulder a bond.

Read more:

Liberty ISD asked to annex Featherstone