After meeting with Senator for District 24 Jesse Green and Representative for District 23 Ray Sorensen on January 6th, the Adair – Casey (AC) and Guthrie Center (GC) School Boards returned to the topic of consolidation.

Superintendent Josh Rasmussen says that the Boards once again talked about consolidation and reorganization in their regular monthly meeting in January, especially after a companion bill was drafted in both the Senate and House to reinstate whole grade sharing/consolidation incentives. He mentions that the Boards are very optimistic about the bills passing, and have begun discussions on moving forward with their plans to have the residents of the two districts vote on consolidation hopefully in September.

Rasmussen tells Raccoon Valley Radio one of many reasons why they are looking at consolidation.

“We know that we have declining enrollment in Iowa and we’ve seen that here in our districts and just try and prepare for what’s coming next and consolidating resources is one thing that helps us prepare for the future.”

Rasmussen explains that the two districts do receive operational sharing funds for business positions in the district, like the superintendent, Title XI/equity coordinator and school business official. He adds that once consolidated, the districts would lose those funds, but could then share those positions with surrounding districts should that opportunity present itself.