The Clinton Board of Education Tuesday evening voted to leave the Okaw Valley Conference.

Clinton decided to join a potential new conference with eight other Okaw Schools who submitted letters Tuesday of their intent to leave the conference. Superintendent of Clinton Schools, Dr. Jeff Holmes explains Clinton, along with Decatur St. Teresa, Argenta-Oreana, and Tuscola were extended invitations to join the original five schools in leaving the Okaw.

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Original reasoning for a conference break up was travel distance, however, having Tolono Unity, Monticello, and Maroa-Forsyth left out of the invitation clearly points to conference realignment being football driven. Dr. Holmes says while he does not agree with the reason, he wants to simply look out for the best interest of Clinton.

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While a nine team conference is not ideal, Dr. Holmes would like to see a tenth team join to make football scheduling much easier. Dr. Holmes adds he is looking at a bigger picture than just football. He says he wants what is best for Clinton but also best for arranging a conference that could potentially make football scheduling easier.

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However, the nine schools that submitted their letters of intent to leave the conference are not a concrete number yet. All these schools must get the approval of their school boards, and while a couple of districts have gotten the approval, there are several who still need to get it.

Regional Radio News will have more on this story in the coming days.