This has been one of my favorite rumors since my arrival at
Central three short years ago. One would
think after three years (or longer) this misconception would just go away, but
with both districts failing in their recent bond efforts and with both
districts now sharing a common calendar, the merge rumors are still going
strong. So as you can see in my title,
if you can’t beat them, join them!
All joking aside, Central is implementing steps to partner
with Clayton Ridge on a variety of initiatives that Superintendent Shane Wahls
(Clayton Ridge) and I are very excited about.
Clayton Ridge and Central will share the same district
calendar in the 2016/17 school year.
This is a major accomplishment in which both districts had some give and
take. I feel this is one of the more
important pieces to have in place for real sharing opportunities to exist. Everything becomes easier when you are on the
same schedule and timeline.
- Because of the common calendar, Central and Clayton Ridge are better able to serve our students through expanding our course offerings, specifically our duel credit course offerings. This upcoming school year, Clayton Ridge students will be able to register for Mrs. Walz early childhood education classes (8 students have already registered!) and Central students can register for Mr. Mueller’s duel credit advanced carpentry courses.
- Teachers from both districts will now have common professional development days to work as teams. In both of our districts, all of our middle school and secondary teachers are the only people that teach those subject areas (singletons). Now with common professional development, these teachers can collaborate with peers who teach the same subjects.
- Central and Clayton Ridge students do not have access to a learning academy and have minimal Northeast Iowa Community College presence (NICC does not have a site in Clayton County). Neither school district has the budget to hire extra staff to provide more duel credit courses. Getting creative and working together (something public schools traditionally haven’t done well) is something both Mr. Wahls and I recognized as a way to protect our individual identities and better serve our communities.
Those that want the school districts to merge will always
find an example of something we are doing to spread that agenda. The silent majority (according to our survey
results) realizes what would happen if the communities of Central lose their school
or the communities of Clayton Ridge lose theirs. Your school district is the lifeblood of any
thriving community. Mr. Wahls and I
truly believe by working together we can offer more to our communities while
maintaining our individuality and furthering the longevity of our school
districts.
