KinDee's first priority will be to try and preserve our school and the jobs and benefits that go along with keeping our school K-12 and independent. It will be an extremely difficult challenge now that the current board has put us in this position of WGS. No school has ever come back from WGS that we could find. In almost every instance, WGS lasts for 10 years or less, and then a merger happens.
My wife has said that if it comes to a point where a merger is inevitable, she will try and see what can be done about redrawing the boundaries so that outlying areas of the Valley District can possibly re-align with another bordering school district that may better serve these outlying families and students. It can be argued whether or not North Fayette is the best fit for those that live in Wadena, or those who live out near Gunder. This would most likely be done through either dissolution or re-organization. Dissolution or re-organization would be a matter of last resort, but a better choice than a whole-hearted merger where North Fayette ingests the entire Valley School District. A lot will depend on the school board make-up after the next election.
If you are also interested in preserving our school by keeping Valley K-12 and independent, please consider running for the school board. Papers may be obtained from the district office at the school. Also, please take the time to ask those who are running for the school board where they stand on the eventual merger of Valley to North Fayette. It is imperative that you know where the candidates stand on this issue. Our future depends upon the decisions made at this next election.
-Eric
Who says that a merger would make Valley become North Fayette? With the WGS agreement, there are still two separate districts. If we merge, we will become one school district under the name of North Fayette Valley. Just because the NF district is larger means they run the entire show.
ReplyDelete~JJW
Valley will not become North Fayette, but once consolidation does come, the school will be ran from West Union. It's not a matter of "if" we will consolidate, but when. Have you read the many articles that I found where honest school administrators explain that whole grade sharing is meant to lead to consolidation? You can read where I posted many of those articles here: http://www.savevalley.blogspot.com/2013/02/whole-grade-sharing-leads-to.html I don't see where there can be much argument about the purpose of WGS. The administrators in those articles seem pretty clear about what the purpose of WGS is. Sadly, I don't think the people who originally pushed for this plan here at Valley and North Fayette were entirely honest about the process. Actually, I know they weren't. I think a lot of people still think that this is just a process that will last a few years and then go away. That's sadly not going to be the case.
ReplyDeleteI understand that you're happy with the new arrangement. I can understand that. I don't know what your future holds, but I suspect that many of the kids from around here will most likely grow up and leave the area. It's happening all over rural America. Even if you leave after graduation, I will continue to live here and as such, I will continue to be a property taxpayer and have a right to say that I don't want this new school arrangement. WGS will eventually lead to higher property taxes. I have seen it happen elsewhere. I did not grow up here in this area although many from my family did. I grew up near Cedar Rapids and came here specifically to get away from larger schools. I wanted my kids to attend a small school. I knew that meant that they may not be offered all the "bells and whistles" classes, but it was more important for me to have my kids in a small school. People in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City open enroll their kids out of those large schools all the time and into the smaller surrounding schools. Crazy enough, parents from the smaller districts open enroll their kids into the larger districts because they think bigger schools offer more opportunity. They often find out that along with bigger schools, there are larger problems. You would have to live there to understand. Jordan, I guess you and me will have to respectfully agree to disagree. I'm glad that you enjoy the new arrangement. Let's wait and see how many people still enjoy it ten or fifteen years from now. I hope it's just as many as there seems to be today. I also hope you like it well enough to purchase a home here, raise a family, and send your kids to this school someday.