Corning and Villisca, which started whole-grade sharing in 2013 as Southwest Valley, last year started to make gestures toward full consolidation. But like pretty much everything else, the plague got in the way.
KMA reports that the merger is on hold for now. Moving forward will depend on what the Iowa Legislature does regarding operational sharing. That program offers incentives to separate districts to have certain school officials do part-time work for both of them. For example, one-time North Tama teacher Ken Crawford has been superintendent for both Highland and Lone Tree, and starting next school year will be full-time for Highland (story: KCII).
Speaking of school things, Enrollmas*, which usually happens this week, came early this school year. More on that after evaluations.