.

[cyIclSoneU]

However, the 1A school had more opportunities for extra curriculars such as band, choir, sports, etc. At a 3A school, I had to pick one thing over the other, which limited the high school experience I had.

This is interesting to me because I went to a 4A school, though one of the smallest 4A schools there is, and I was able to do everything I wanted to and so did my friends. You could do all the sports you wanted with pretty much all the other extracurriculars you wanted, too. I imagine this isn't the case at a school the size of Valley but it still was for my school ranked somewhere in the 40s by enrollment.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

might be time to do like most other states.

"County Name" High school

 

[Cy$]

This is interesting to me because I went to a 4A school, though one of the smallest 4A schools there is, and I was able to do everything I wanted to and so did my friends. You could do all the sports you wanted with pretty much all the other extracurriculars you wanted, too. I imagine this isn't the case at a school the size of Valley but it still was for my school ranked somewhere in the 40s by enrollment.

my case was different than others. I was interested in playing soccer my senior year for the 3A school but couldn't because my 1A baseball team wouldn't let me due to conflicting practice schedules. I know that I wouldn't have had time to do band at the 3A school as football practice was at the same time as well, and you had to march to be in the band (stupid but w/e).

 

[wxman1]

might be time to do like most other states.

"County Name" High school

Benton Community...

 

[BCClone]

Iowa is going to have to accept and embrace things that have happened in states that lost it's rural populations already. 1-3 districts per county will end up being the right number for counties not named Polk, Story, Johnson, Linn, Dallas, Woodbury, Scott, Blackhawk, Dubuque, Pottowatomie, etc.

1-3 already is the norm outside those counties. With what some people proposed there would be 1-3 counties in one school.

 

[IASTATE07]

There is a school in my area that appears to be just barely hanging on. I've heard one problem consolidating them is that their district covers so much land and they have the largest or second largest bus route in the state. The closest schools to them are about 15-20 miles east or west.

 

[kingcy]

Not really. The smaller a district is, the fewer teachers you have, and the fewer offerings you can have. Hard to divert a teacher for a class that only a couple kids will take in a smaller school, but might be 20-30 in the classroom at a larger one.

You can take classes through Community Colleges.

 

[SoapyCy]

There is a school in my area that appears to be just barely hanging on. I've heard one problem consolidating them is that their district covers so much land and they have the largest or second largest bus route in the state. The closest schools to them are about 15-20 miles east or west.

I fully understand how this question sounds but I'll ask anyway meaning no ill intent...

Why would people move to a town like that to raise their family? Is it legacy people who never left, retired folks, or what? Can kids take classes online? Where do the few kids that do graduate there work? At what point do towns draw a line in the sand and say they are unsustainable?

It took me 15 minutes to get to HS in the big city. Is 15 miles/minutes bad?

 

[ia8manfan]

might be time to do like most other states.

"County Name" High school

I lived in North Carolina for a couple of years and almost all school districts are broken down like this. In this system, to use Boone County as an example, there might be two high schools, Boone East and Boone West. Both schools are located along highway 30 somewhere to balance transportation distances. The city of Boone effectively gets split up by the high schools, but all county kids get a decent 2A-3A sized school. Elementary schools still stay local in the small towns to keep them going.

The good news is that both high schools are governed by the same school board, and decisions are made a little more rationally.

 

[IASTATE07]

I fully understand how this question sounds but I'll ask anyway meaning no ill intent...

Why would people move to a town like that to raise their family? Is it legacy people who never left, retired folks, or what? Can kids take classes online? Where do the few kids that do graduate there work? At what point do towns draw a line in the sand and say they are unsustainable?

I'm not from there so I can't really answer your questions. I do know the kids that want to play football go to another school that's in their conference. It's about 45 minutes away so it would take some dedication to get home late every night.

 

[cmjh10]

I fully understand how this question sounds but I'll ask anyway meaning no ill intent...

Why would people move to a town like that to raise their family? Is it legacy people who never left, retired folks, or what? Can kids take classes online? Where do the few kids that do graduate there work? At what point do towns draw a line in the sand and say they are unsustainable?

It took me 15 minutes to get to HS in the big city. Is 15 miles/minutes bad?

I know in my case, it was a combination of many things. Close enough to bigger city to drive to work, but much cheaper to live. Some people don't like bug city living. But, I think in small towns, you have a lot more people who never leave as well.

 

[FarminCy]

I know in my case, it was a combination of many things. Close enough to bigger city to drive to work, but much cheaper to live. Some people don't like bug city living. But, I think in small towns, you have a lot more people who never leave as well.

I think your situation is the norm. If you're close enough to commute I don't think the district would be in trouble.

The ones in trouble are the ones that aren't close enough to commute and have no options in any direction.

It's not really a decision of big city vs small town. It's living in no mans land vs an area that has growth (small or big town).

 

[FarminCy]

1-3 already is the norm outside those counties. With what some people proposed there would be 1-3 counties in one school.

I think 2 to 4 is far more common but are there any counties with 1?

As someone else already posted Iowa may have to embrace county districts which may have 1 or 2 schools. It works perfectly in other parts of the country.

I don't think anyone would think a 3 county district is good for anyone. But most counties a county wide district would make for a really good 2A or 3A school like others have already said.

 

[hurdleisu24]

I fully understand how this question sounds but I'll ask anyway meaning no ill intent...

Why would people move to a town like that to raise their family? Is it legacy people who never left, retired folks, or what? Can kids take classes online? Where do the few kids that do graduate there work? At what point do towns draw a line in the sand and say they are unsustainable?

It took me 15 minutes to get to HS in the big city. Is 15 miles/minutes bad?

It's not the 15 miles to school for one family that is the issue with these small districts that cover a large area. It's bus routes. If we get too big, kids will be on buses for hour to an hour and a half or more each way. That is excessive. In many of these rural districts kids are already on buses that long.

 

[BCClone]

I think 2 to 4 is far more common but are there any counties with 1?

As someone else already posted Iowa may have to embrace county districts which may have 1 or 2 schools. It works perfectly in other parts of the country.

I don't think anyone would think a 3 county district is good for anyone. But most counties a county wide district would make for a really good 2A or 3A school like others have already said.

I'm trying to think hard what schools are located in kossuth county. It's basically a two county size county. There is algona and algona garrigan. I can't think of any other HS in the county unless I'm missing one on the southern border but think those all go to humboldt

 

[CyinCo]

It's not the 15 miles to school for one family that is the issue with these small districts that cover a large area. It's bus routes. If we get too big, kids will be on buses for hour to an hour and a half or more each way. That is excessive. In many of these rural districts kids are already on buses that long.

I was on a bus twice a day for 1.5 hours from 7th - 12th grade. not fun. But it does happen. You learn a lot being on the bus that long. I'm a pro Euchre player now

 

[FarminCy]

I'm trying to think hard what schools are located in kossuth county. It's basically a two county size county. There is algona and algona garrigan. I can't think of any other HS in the county unless I'm missing one on the southern border but think those all go to humboldt

The only other I can think of is North Kossuth/North Union.

Looking at the map it appears there are a number of districts that reach into Kossuth but the school is located in a neighboring county.

Edit. Looking at it you could also include West Bend Mallard even though it straddles the county line.

 

[BCClone]

The only other I can think of is North Kossuth/North Union.

Looking at the map it appears there are a number of districts that reach into Kossuth but the school is located in a neighboring county.

North union is located in Armstrong which is emmet I believe. I was thinking about ones that reach into other counties, like Winnebago has all three right on county lines, but figured the numbers would come out in the wash since a Winnebago shows three but with them pulling from three other counties it makes them high, so I decided to just go by where the HS was located.

 

[IcSyU]

I'm trying to think hard what schools are located in kossuth county. It's basically a two county size county. There is algona and algona garrigan. I can't think of any other HS in the county unless I'm missing one on the southern border but think those all go to humboldt

Consolidation has taken place in a big way around Kossuth County. The only schools which were legitimately in Kossuth County outside Algona (and Bishop Garrigan) were North Kossuth (Swea City) and Sentral (Fenton). A bunch of other schools skirted the county line with Corwith-Wesley-LuVerne, Twin River Valley (Livermore), Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka, Armstrong-Ringsted, West Bend-Mallard, and North Iowa (Buffalo Center). The only one left standing today I believe is Armstrong-Ringsted/North Kossuth/Sentral as North Union (and I'm not sure if the high school is in Swea City (Kossuth) or Armstrong (Emmet).

 

[FarminCy]

North union is located in Armstrong which is emmet I believe. I was thinking about ones that reach into other counties, like Winnebago has all three right on county lines, but figured the numbers would come out in the wash since a Winnebago shows three but with them pulling from three other counties it makes them high, so I decided to just go by where the HS was located.

I wasn't sure what town the high school was in for North Union. It looks like about 6 districts reach into Kossuth but you're right that only two actual high schools exist in the county.

Compare that to Pottawawatamie which is the other double county. Even away from Council Bluffs on the east side there are multiple districts and 3 right outside CB. Although the east side schools i think have been consolidating.