.

[Stormin]

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

You are correct. There are several school districts in Kossuth County still paying for bond issues that were passed when the writing was on the wall concerning the future of their school district. They mistakenly thought buildings were the issue. It was the lack of students. They ignored reality when it came to student projections.

Lakota closed years ago and finally joined North Iowa in 1992 after sharing with Buffalo Center since 1987. They had 5 in their last graduating class. Still had people thinking they should continue.

Here is a list of consolidations since 1965. There are still school districts that exist that engage in full one way whole grade sharing.

https://www.educateiowa.gov/sites/files/ed/documents/District Reorganization History.pdf

 

[FarminCy]

You are correct. There are several school districts in Kossuth County still paying for bond issues that were passed when the writing was on the wall concerning the future of their school district. They mistakenly thought buildings were the issue. It was the lack of students. They ignored reality when it came to student projections.

Lakota closed years ago and finally joined North Iowa in 1992 after sharing with Buffalo Center since 1987. They had 5 in their last graduating class. Still had people thinking they should continue.

Here is a list of consolidations since 1965. There are still school districts that exist that engage in full one way whole grade sharing.

https://www.educateiowa.gov/sites/files/ed/documents/District Reorganization History.pdf

There are quite a few schools on that list that I though were merged back when I played some of them in high school. Must have just been grade sharing or sports because the merge date is long after I was gone. It's also interesting to see schools that I thought were always together when I was in school due to sports or grade sharing but were formally merged while I was in middle or high school.

 

[Bret44]

So I guess I have some pretty unique experience in this topic. I went to a small school (graduated with 24 kids) and was involved in plenty (FFA, 4 Sports, StuCo, Musicals/Plays), had the opportunity to take college class (back when they were all online, which I did not take), and felt challenged in classes.

I have taught at 3 different schools of various sizes, one was a super consolidated school that was just getting over the old rivalry that excited before I go there. I have since taught at 1 large 3A school and am currently at a small 3A school. Are there more opportunities at the larger schools? Yes there are, but I don't think that small schools aren't offering enough to meet the needs of kids.

Every school can teach college classes through the closest Community College (Which is both good and bad. I currently teach AnSci 114 and Agron 114 which are taught at ISU), so that opportunity is there. I think we will see a move to more regional centers for non-Core classes in places of w/small districts to fight off major consolidation in the near future.

Anyway, that kind of rambled, but I think you got the point.

 

[wxman1]

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.

Benton Community is just that. Consolidate from several smaller town districts to one county wide district with the exception being Vinton-Shellsburg. They have K-5 in Atkins, Keystone and Norway with 6-12 in Van Horne.

 

[VeloClone]

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

I had a bus ride of 1.5 hours in the evening and 10 minutes in the morning in K through 5. In sixth grade I had to take that bus then another to the high school then another to another school and the reverse on the way home. Needless to say, I walked the mile and half home a lot of days when the weather was good rather than take that long of a final bus ride. Luckily we moved so I didn't have to continue with that much bus time.

 

[dmclone]

I went to a decently large and diverse school from K-7. In 8th grade, we moved to Iowa and I had 22 kids in my graduating class. If I had to do it all over again, I would pick the small school every time. You got to play in every sport you wanted to play in, you knew every person in the whole school and their families, you had small class sizes, etc. When we had our 20 year reunion I believe 17 out of my 20 living classmates showed up and at least 1/2 of those were from out of state. Out of those 22 you have these positions:

3 work at Deere
3 work professionally at Fortune 500 companies(IT and Mgmt)
1 is a college professor/stand-up comedian/chef/pharmacy tech (Still trying to find herself)
1 is a Iowa high school science teacher and retiring 400 win baseball coach
1 is a nurse
1 works part time retail
1 drives semi
1 hair dresser(Still has 80's hair)
2 farmers
1 works in DC as a director for a alliance to support AIDS/public health
1 works for the state DNR
1 works at a college as an arts director
1 retired from the military and died in motorcycle accident last year
1 is unemployed and fighting cancer

Out of those 22, I believe only 2 have been divorced. About 1/2 live out of state. All 22 white and 4 gay. No one in the class is rich(maybe one of the farmers) but most have seemed to have long successful careers. The people I work with that went to large schools didn't have these types of relationships with their classmates.


I've lived in Johnston for the last 15 years and you know how many people I know in our suburb.....maybe 5. On the other hand I can go back to my hometown where I haven't lived in over 25 years and not go a block without knowing someone. To be fair, part of the reason I don't know a lot of people in Johnston besides my neighbors is because we don't have kids.

2 years after I graduated our school combined with another one. It sounds like it was a win/win for both schools but it's still pretty small (2A).

 

[FarminCy]

So I guess I have some pretty unique experience in this topic. I went to a small school (graduated with 24 kids) and was involved in plenty (FFA, 4 Sports, StuCo, Musicals/Plays), had the opportunity to take college class (back when they were all online, which I did not take), and felt challenged in classes.

I have taught at 3 different schools of various sizes, one was a super consolidated school that was just getting over the old rivalry that excited before I go there. I have since taught at 1 large 3A school and am currently at a small 3A school. Are there more opportunities at the larger schools? Yes there are, but I don't think that small schools aren't offering enough to meet the needs of kids.

Every school can teach college classes through the closest Community College (Which is both good and bad. I currently teach AnSci 114 and Agron 114 which are taught at ISU), so that opportunity is there. I think we will see a move to more regional centers for non-Core classes in places of w/small districts to fight off major consolidation in the near future.

Anyway, that kind of rambled, but I think you got the point.

I agree with pretty much everything.

I graduated with 44 and had plenty to do and definitely felt challenged. I agree that small schools are able to meet needs currently and in the past. Their main challenge is going forward. My high school still exists in the same form from when I graduated. They are now down to 25-30 per class and even lower in elementary. The big difference from my time to now is they are massively under funded now. Plus turn over rate amongst staff is very high. You have to hope one of the new single teachers will marry a local otherwise they last 2-3 years. My mom taught for 30 years in that district and the only reason she didn't go to a better paying district was because we were local farmers and she didn't have to work if she didn't want to. There are multiple challenges facing small rural schools that there isn't an all encompassing answer to.

My kids are going to a mid sized 3A and I feel that is the perfect scenario. It's big enough that they have every opportunity you could think of but small enough we know most of the kids and families in their classes and know all the staff. Turnover is low and it is a great teaching staff.

It's sad to see the small rural schools die off but I'm guessing that's the way my grandparents felt as country school houses were being shutdown.

 

[SoapyCy]

I've lived in Johnston for the last 15 years and you know how many people I know in our suburb.....maybe 5. On the other hand I can go back to my hometown where I haven't lived in over 25 years and not go a block without knowing someone. To be fair, part of the reason I don't know a lot of people in Johnston besides my neighbors is because we don't have kids.

2 years after I graduated our school combined with another one. It sounds like it was a win/win for both schools but it's still pretty small (2A).

on the flip side, i can go back to my town of 300k in a metro of 3.5 million and high school of 1,300 and know people i haven't seen in a decade. i can walk around the old neighborhood and run into people that knew my parents, etc. it's not the size of the school that is the variable here - it's the time in your life when you met people. look at people in their 30s and 40s who move to a new town - much harder to meet people than when you are forced to be in a classroom with 20 other kids all day.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

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.

River Valley?

 

[SoapyCy]

Plus turn over rate amongst staff is very high. You have to hope one of the new single teachers will marry a local otherwise they last 2-3 years.

this is a huge problem in many small towns. add in the majority (71%) of college-educated women will only marry a man with a college degree, and many times people in small towns don't have that degree unless they came back to farm, be an accountant, etc and the odds are stacked against the small towns.

 

[FarminCy]

I went to a decently large and diverse school from K-7. In 8th grade, we moved to Iowa and I had 22 kids in my graduating class. If I had to do it all over again, I would pick the small school every time. You got to play in every sport you wanted to play in, you knew every person in the whole school and their families, you had small class sizes, etc. When we had our 20 year reunion I believe 17 out of my 20 living classmates showed up and at least 1/2 of those were from out of state. Out of those 22 you have these positions:

3 work at Deere
3 work professionally at Fortune 500 companies(IT and Mgmt)
1 is a college professor/stand-up comedian/chef/pharmacy tech (Still trying to find herself)
1 is a Iowa high school science teacher and retiring 400 win baseball coach
1 is a nurse
1 works part time retail
1 drives semi
1 hair dresser(Still has 80's hair)
2 farmers
1 works in DC as a director for a alliance to support AIDS/public health
1 works for the state DNR
1 works at a college as an arts director
1 retired from the military and died in motorcycle accident last year
1 is unemployed and fighting cancer

Out of those 22, I believe only 2 have been divorced. About 1/2 live out of state. All 22 white and 4 gay. No one in the class is rich(maybe one of the farmers) but most have seemed to have long successful careers. The people I work with that went to large schools didn't have these types of relationships with their classmates.


I've lived in Johnston for the last 15 years and you know how many people I know in our suburb.....maybe 5. On the other hand I can go back to my hometown where I haven't lived in over 25 years and not go a block without knowing someone. To be fair, part of the reason I don't know a lot of people in Johnston besides my neighbors is because we don't have kids.

2 years after I graduated our school combined with another one. It sounds like it was a win/win for both schools but it's still pretty small (2A).

You're comparing 22 kids to a 4A. For most of us growing up 80+ kids per class is a "big school".

I would never send my kids to a 4A just like I would never send my kids to 22 per class.

We are sitting at 160ish per grade and we love that size. It still has the feel of a small school and community but big enough that I know we will never have to worry about the survival of the district.

The argument isn't really small town vs 4A. The focus is mainly would kids benefit by bringing together districts to get them to that 60-100 per grade number.

 

[Stormin]

As far as Kossuth County, Corwith Wesley and LuVerne had whole grade sharing with the High School in Corwith. Corwith-Wesley dissolved. LuVerne still maintains a grade school through 6th grade, I believe. After 6th grade LuVerne has whole grade sharing with Algona one-way.

LuVerne elementary has almost a 1:1 ratio of students to teachers I believe. Crazy.

 

[SoapyCy]

here's a dumb question (i'm really god at those!)

my grade school had like 600 kids and operated fine, had money, etc. i'm reading about small district with >600 kids who need to consolidate. If the entire district was put into one building of 600 would it be more feasible? I'm trying to figure out, less busing, why some schools can make it work with few kids while others cannot.

 

[SoapyCy]

can someone tell us why Mount Ayr has these weird boundaries?

 

[jsb]

here's a dumb question (i'm really god at those!)

my grade school had like 600 kids and operated fine, had money, etc. i'm reading about small district with >600 kids who need to consolidate. If the entire district was put into one building of 600 would it be more feasible? I'm trying to figure out, less busing, why some schools can make it work with few kids while others cannot.

It depends on the tax base. Land. Some districts have a lot of farm land. Some don't.

Also, local option sales tax. If your school is in s county with s big city that had the local option sales tax, you get s lot of money.

 

[ElephantPie]

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.

Davis County Schools
Van Buren Community Schools
Benton Community (minus Vinton-Schellsburg) [disputed]
Others?

 

[IsuStu]

As far as Kossuth County, Corwith Wesley and LuVerne had whole grade sharing with the High School in Corwith. Corwith-Wesley dissolved. LuVerne still maintains a grade school through 6th grade, I believe. After 6th grade LuVerne has whole grade sharing with Algona one-way.

LuVerne elementary has almost a 1:1 ratio of students to teachers I believe. Crazy.

The student teacher ratio at LuVerne is more than 1:1. They have started using teachers across multiple grades to compensate for declining enrollment. There are probably 60-75 students left and 7 or so teachers counting preschool.

 

[Incyte]

It depends on the tax base. Land. Some districts have a lot of farm land. Some don't.

Also, local option sales tax. If your school is in s county with s big city that had the local option sales tax, you get s lot of money.

Local option sales tax does not go to schools.

Also, you want residential and commercial propery in your district much more than farm land.

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

My kids went to a 2A/1A sized school. I was at the middle school state invitational track meet once. Schools of all different sizes were competing. As my wife and I cheered for our local kids in each event because we knew all of them, there was a group of Valley parents sitting in front of us patiently waiting for their kids (the Valley "A" team) to run the 4x100. They were totally indifferent when it came to cheering for other Valley kids. When it came time for the 4x100, their kids ran and were extremely fast. I think they won the event. The Valley "B" team was also very good. As I listened to their conversation, it became obvious that didn't know a single kid on the Valley "B" team and their biggest concern was whether or not one of those "B" team kids would bump one or more their kids off of the the "A" team. I knew for sure at that point that we had made the right decision by moving out of the Des Moines area to a smaller district.

I realize that competition is a good thing, but it just floored me how little they cared about the other kids from their own school district. This is not an indictment on these particular parents either. They seemed like very nice people.

 

[Stormin]

The student teacher ratio at LuVerne is more than 1:1. They have started using teachers across multiple grades to compensate for declining enrollment. There are probably 60-75 students left and 7 or so teachers counting preschool.

Didn't Corwith-Wesley and LuVerne BOTH operate grade schools before? And now I think the Corwith-Wesley kids are pretty much all going to LuVerne. 9 to 10 kids per teacher is still crazy. And I was going by the number in this. Read it wrong evidently when it said "strong 1:1 ratio of students to teachers".

http://www.luverne.k12.ia.us/Content2/6