Monday night the Essex and South Page school boards got together on neutral ground for a joint public meeting to discuss current and potential sharing agreements. …
Pertaining to the upcoming football season, the two boards agreed it would be premature and unduly expensive to purchase new uniforms so they decided that the South Page white jersey would be worn for away games and the Essex black jerseys would be worn at home. [Essex Superintendent Jim] Dick said they also opted to have the helmets refurbished and painted black with a red “ESP” logo to represent both schools.
Essex and South Page (College Springs) are both in Page County, but they don’t border each other. Shenandoah and Clarinda meet between them. On this map of the South Page district (PDF), Essex’s southern border is at the northwest corner.
Now, obviously, at the borders the options are limited. However, while I have never seen an arrangement like this before, I’m not aware of anything prohibiting it. It’s just not a circumstance that pops up that often.
In related news, Northeast Hamilton and Webster City, two districts that do border each other, are discussing “day sharing.” That is a different arrangement than grade-sharing, because here the smaller school stays open for all grade levels. Jefferson-Scranton and Paton-Churdan have been doing this for a long time. On the other hand, firing the superintendent and principal along with nine teachers is a big step in the other direction for NEH. Also, Farragut and Hamburg are having some rough spots with the blended family, so to speak.