Because
of Senate Bill No. 307 which become effective on July 18, 1948, a six
member county Board of Education was elected to make a study of the
school districts in Jackson County and prepare a plan of
reorganization.
The County Board of Education redistricted 83 school districts into
15. In the proposal District I, which ultimately became the Fort Osage
School District, brought in the following: Sibley, Lawnwood, Blue
Valley, Atherton, Academy, Paririe Dale, Reber, Buckner, Levasy, Combs,
Peacedale, Woodland, Lake City, Sunny Nook, Boon Hill, Murphy, Oakland
No. 25, and Owen. District 2, much of which is now the West end of the
Fort Osage School District, included the elementary school districts of
Union, Courtney, Elm Grove No. 18, and Etna.
The voters approved the reorganization on August 11, 1949 with 423
votes for and 324 votes against. A watermelon supper was held on the
Buckner school grounds on September 21, 1949 so the faculty, teachers,
and families might become better acquainted.
The second Academy looks south in a
hidden little valley on the east bank of Sugar Creek branch, four miles
west of Sibley. The school grounds occupied the northwest corner of a
narrow 10-acre strip that is tacked to the 100-acre fields above the
east hill.