only on decorahnews.com: What the experience of North Fayette and Valley of Elgin can teach Decorah and North Winneshiek

How does the North Winn/Decorah school discussion relate to other nearby school mergers?
 
decorahnews.com interviewed North Fayette Valley Superintendent Duane Willhite to discuss the recent Whole Grade Sharing agreement between Valley of Elgin and North Fayette Schools. While the issues of any district will be different, looking at what has happened elsewhere helps the public and administrations "frame up" the issues when districts needs force changes.
 
Valley of Elgin Schools and North Fayette School Boards both voted in January 2012 to Whole Grade Share (WGS) beginning in the fall of 2013. The agreement came after many public hearings and committee meetings. Both school systems had financial concerns – facing declining enrollments and building closures, such as a middle school closure in West Union. Valley was facing significantly reduced programs in the high school. Valley was the district that initiated the discussions, and, after exploring the possibilities with other districts, began serious discussions with North Fayette. Ultimately the WGS agreement that began this fall was for all middle school students to attend in Elgin and all high school students to attend in West Union. Multiple elementary centers exist throughout the district (which includes Fayette).
 
Superintendent Willhite says the process has gone pretty well, and there remains limited continued resistance. Students are reporting high satisfaction with the new arrangements.

Most of the challenges have been communication related issues such as scheduling for practices and activities, and transportation details. "In the planning stages the biggest issue was what colors we would wear and what our name and mascot would be. I think our new Tiger-Hawks with an all new color scheme has worked well and helps build common ground." He admits that one of the biggest bonding forces was the 11-2 North Fayette-Valley football team, as well as the successes of other athletic teams and co-curricular activities.
 
Other challenges existed because each district had established communication practices, particularly with the public, so everyone had to essentially be retrained in those efforts. Staff needed to do a lot of juggling and regrouping, but he credits their efforts to build new teamwork systems. Two board meetings a month, two different contract systems and policy books add to the communication challenges but Willhite is optimistic about the future. He does not see further WGS expanding unless there happens to be a need for expanded space in either district. He notes that some districts in the state have been engaging in WGS for 20-30 years, mostly because they have desired to keep elementary classes more local.
 
One of the stated goals of the North Winneshiek School Board is to continue use of their facilities. Since North Winneshiek has already progressed in WGS at the high school level and the "needs" of Decorah Community Schools to gain something is not as readily obvious as in the North Fayette district, North Winneshiek will need to be positioned to present their facilities as something that can be an asset to both Decorah and North Winneshiek students.