This school year we will continue on our journey of multi-age classrooms in the elementary. This move will ensure Central remains viable as a district for a very long time, and by evidence of last year's test scores does not hurt students academically.
I will also be emphasizing the importance of communication with all Central staff to all of our Central stakeholders. We have begun improving our communication through a new and updated district website. Those interested in news from Central can sign up for updates and every time we update our website an email will be sent to you. Please be patient with us as we are all still learning the many capabilities of our new district website.
Obviously the hot topic over the summer has been the school remodel and bond election. Data from the election shows 75% of voters were 45 years or older, almost 50% of voters were 60 years or older. Central needs the support of this age group to make much needed improvements to our K-12 building. I am challenging my staff to get our students out into the community even more this school year. We need voters to realize the importance of having Central Community School District. Those with the mindset that we should consolidate with another school need to consider the following:
Who would you like to consolidate with? We are the smallest district of our surrounding neighbors, so do you believe the larger districts will be in favor of keeping a consolidated school here in Elkader? The answer is "no"! Now take the school out of Elkader, what does that mean for our businesses? What does that mean for our movie theater? Our hospital? Our pool? What about students getting to this new consolidated school? We currently have students on the bus already at the hour limit set by law, how can we legally expand travel time?
Consolidation isn't a "real" answer if those of us that live in this community love the services our community offers. If our school district leaves, then people leave and our services leave, simple as that! So what is our alternative? Obviously I believe we need to support our school district by investing in our school district. By investing in our school district, we have a better chance to attract more families to our community, not lose them through consolidation. Albert Einstein said it best, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again & expecting different results." Do we really want to continue to patch our building together, or do we want to make an investment that could have the potential to grow our community? We NEED to do something different.
The school board will be sending out a survey to receive feedback from everyone who voted in the June 30th bond election. The information from the survey will be used to determine next steps for our school district. Please return the survey with your honest feedback and please consider the points I make about consolidation. Look at any town in Iowa that has lost it's school. The proof is clearly out there!
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