 The most recent time the issue of a public/private split came up was in 2007, when a petition originated by Belle High School near Jefferson City was put to a vote by a group of public school athletic directors in St. Louis.While some believed that it would have a larger amount of support the athletic directors as well as the state board gave it a vote of no confidence before it went to the schools.When the results were tabulated, the petition was defeated by a landslide (over 200 votes).