November 17, 1996: Cropped video frame from Tama County 4H Awards Program. The gym floor was replaced in summer 1997 or summer 1998.
Tama County’s fifth-largest town has lost its school.
The Gladbrook-Reinbeck school board voted Wednesday night to close the elementary in Gladbrook and send all K-6 students to Reinbeck. A resident wants the courts to stop it but there isn’t much that can be done.
The Gladbrook and Reinbeck school districts started whole-grade sharing in 1988 and officially merged in 1998. Enrollment in the past decade has dropped significantly. Surrounding school districts, including North Tama, have been suffering the same problem.
The undefeated, top-ranked GR boys’ basketball team plays for a berth in the state tournament Saturday night, after doubling up the score on NT Tuesday. The season may have lost a little shine, though, because while a state title would be nice, a school closure is forever.