Big Northern passes on expansion

If it was a baseball game, Princeton and Mendota would be called out.

For the third  time, the two NCIC Lincoln schools swung and missed at an attempt to land a new conference home.
The Big Northern Conference, as expected, voted against expansion in Thursday’s league meeting. Big Northern spokesman Dale Purvis of Poplar Grove North Boone told the BCR it was a “pretty close vote.”

A 75-percent majority vote of its 12 league members was required for expansion to pass.

Purvis said the league had taken a preliminary vote about expansion in which schools expressed their concerns to go into expansion at this time.

“With budget concerns, the schools said it was hard to justify adding two more schools at this time,” Purvis said.
Princeton and Mendota previously approached the Three Rivers and Interstate Eight about expansion, but were turned away.

Thursday’s vote comes as no surprise to Princeton, which was told previously by the Big Northern the unlikelihood of the expansion vote passing. PHS Superintendent Kirk Haring told the BCR PHS has had not any discussion with the Big Northern for weeks.

Mendota officials could not be reached for comment.

For now, PHS and Mendota remain in the NCIC Lincoln, which in 2011-12 will include six schools along with newcomer St. Bede, Hall, Chillicothe and Rock Falls, but drops to four with the departure of Rock Falls and Hall, which this week accepted an invitation to join the Tri-County.

As for future expansion, Purvis said, “I’m sure our conference will always look at it.”

The Big Northern presently conwsists of North Boone, Richmond-Burton, Harvard, Burlington Central, Oregon, Byron, Stillman Valley, Winnebago, Genoa-Kingston, Rockford Lutheran and Hampshire. Rock Falls will leave the NCIC to join the Big Northern in 2011w-12, replacing Hampshire.

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