ROCKLAND
    The township of Rockland was originally a part of the original Manitowoc
Rapids.
It was not until 1850 that this and surrounding areas were detached from
Rapids and
organized as the Maple Grove township area. Rockland remained a part of J!vaple
Grove until 1856 when it became a municipality by itself with a very unstable
boundary line between Eaton and Rockland. The pamphlet "The Development
of
Town Boundaries in Wisconsin, No. 36, Manitowoc County" indicates that
constant
changing of this boundary line was authorized by the Manitowoc County Board
of
Supervisors. It was not until 1869 that the idea of following Manitowoc river
as a
boundary line between the two towns was abandoned in favor of the accepted
sec-
tion line.
    While the township of Rockland area was a part of the original municipalities,
;chool districts were being organized and numbered in accordance with the
municipality
in which that district was then located. Although there are no official records,
the
organization dates of the following schools seem to lndicate the first order
of school
district organization in Rockland: Maple Grove No. 1 (now Cato 1); Rockland
;
Maple Grove 3; Maple Grove 4 (now Rockland Jt, 4); Maple Grove 5 (the former
Cato Jt. 5 with Rockland); Rockland 6; Cato Jt. 7, joint with Rockland; Maple
Grove
8 (unaccounted for); Maple Grove Jt. 9 (now a part of Cato Jt. 9); and Maple
Grove
Jt. 10 with Rockland (now part of the Reedsville district). The present district
num-
bering results from a filling in of missing numbers after Rockland became
a town-
ship by itself and as districts were organized. The present Rockland school
district
No. 5 is known as Rantoul Jt. 5, joint with Rockland. The organization dates
for the
various districts in the present Rockland township are given in each of the
following
school articles.

                        ROCKLAND NO. I- Suspended
    Rockland school district No. I was among the last of the districts organized
in
Manitowoc county. It belonged originally to the Rockland joint school district
No. 1
composed of the village of Reedsville and areas of farm land in Rockland
and Maple
Grove. It withdrew from the original district because of the high taxes raised
for
grade and high school purposes. The detachment was made possible by the passage
of a state law in 1927 and repealed in 1939.
    The original petition to detach this area was filed on March 28, 1930,
in con-
junction with the Maple Grove No. 5 territory detachment proceedings. The
peti-
tion was addressed to the school officers of Rockland Jt. No. 1 (Reedsville)
and
petitioned them to detach the area from said joint school district bordering
on said
joint school district and outside of the incorporated village of Reedsville.
The school
officers ignored this petition, so an appeal was filed with the county superintendent
of schools within 20 days after the filing of the original petition. Upon
receiving this
appeal, Supt. E. S. Mueller issued an order on April 30, 1930, that all of
the terri-
tory outside of Reedsville be detached and a new school district or districts
be set
up, or that the territory be attached to contiguous existing school districts.
    On May 30, 1930, thetown boards of Maple Grove and of Rockland ordered
that
two new districts be formed from the territory so detached by order ot Theý
county
superintendent of schools,, and that a part of the said territory be attached
to Maple
Grove No. 3. One of the new districts formed was Rockland school district
No. 1,
made up of a strip of land one-half mile wide and four miles long in sections
1, 2, 3,
4, and 11 in Rockland township.
    Rockland school district No. 1 has never erected a school house. Upon
withdrawal
from Reedsville, it has continued to send the grade children to the village
schools.
The first school census listed only 39 children of school age residing in
the newly
created school district. During its existence the yearly census average was
between
40 and 50 children between the ages of 4 and 20 years. Most of the grade
children
have always attended the parochial schools in Reedsville according to the
amount of
taxes raised for school purposes. For only one year did the voters raise
$200 for
school purposes. The rest of the years the district raised only $100 'yearly.
Records
reveal the fact that for at least seven years, no school taxes -were levied!
  Among the signers of the original petition to detach the area outside of
the village
of Reedsville from Rockland Jt. school district No. 1 were John Jonas and
Steve
Foreyt. It was only natural then to elect these men to office on the school
board
of the newly created Rockland No. 1. Records reveal the fact that the original
of-
ficers elected in 1930 are still in office at present. The first and present
school off i-
cers are clerk Steve Foreyt, director John Jonas, and treasurer John W. Mahnke.


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