There were far more questions than answers in a meeting between the Armstrong-Ringsted Consolidated School District Board of Education and Iowa Department of Education representatives Tuesday night.
Del Hoover, education department deputy division administrator, and Barbara Byrd, department school improvement consultant, had met with community members and students previously Tuesday before meeting with the board Tuesday night. They were invited by the district to do a feasibility study regarding A-R's options for whole-grade sharing with other districts.
"Once we leave, there will be a lot of conversations taking place," Hoover said.
Rod Foster, board president, noted A-R has discussed possible sharing options with neighboring districts - most notably North Sentral Kossuth and Graettinger-Terril with an eye toward avoiding a future state-mandated consolidation.
"We want to be proactive rather than reactive," said board member Jen Von Bank.
Board members felt Superintendent Randy Collins had kept them well informed about finances and enrollment and that the district was doing a good job of sharing staff with other districts - something that brings supplemental weighting money from the state. Everyone agreed that providing quality education was their main goal.
Hoover asked the board if it had concerns about providing quality education in the future.
Foster said A-R needed to look at whole-grade sharing with NSK, G-T and Estherville Lincoln Central.
Among the three, board members agreed that NSK was their first choice for whole-grade sharing.
Besides geography, NSK seemed to be a good fit for the board because of a similar community culture. As for any consideration of sharing with ELC, said Foster, "Our school would just be swallowed up."
However, Von Bank said a key question that remains regarding sharing with NSK is where the high school would be located.
Hoover asked whether the board was willing to consider giving up the high school. "Is that something you're willing to talk about or not," he said. "Is that something you can give on. That (A-R's high school) probably is the best facility. The question is can you give on the topic."
Board member Jim Boyer said educating students has to be the top priority. "That has to be the utmost top," Boyer said. The board in a March 4 workshop listed a good education for students as its number-one priority in considering whole-grade sharing. That was followed by keeping younger students in the district, having a good facility, geographic location, and property tax and sense of pride which were tied.
Hoover said students with whom he and Byrd had visited thought Graettinger-Terril would provide the best relationship for A-R. However, he added that NSK was more logical geographically.
