Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

The district in eastern Iowa that is most often called “Central Clinton,” and has a website as as “Central Community,” appears to have filed a name change with the state Department of Education last calendar year.

The kinda-sorta-less-vague-yet-not-really name change to “Central DeWitt” follows an encounter with the limited-character scoreboard at Wells Fargo Arena during the 2014 state boys’ basketball tournament*, where it was labeled “CCLINTON.” Being “Central” by itself is even more vague, and we already have a Central Community School, in Elkader, and of course both of them are “central” only in their respective counties.** I guess it will be “CDEWITT” on the scoreboard next time, which is probably the biggest place this change is going to matter.

The name change is discoverable through the education department’s running list of district reorganizations and databases related to the current school year, including certified enrollment. There were news articles, but no indication anything had been done about it.

The district will retain its code number. It was already alphabetically ahead of Central City for whatever reason, but the numbering system has some flubs that date back to its creation in 1993 since Central Lee is ahead of all of them.

In the end, Grand Mound, Low Moor, and Welton are chopped liver, and now the question is “If you’re in De Witt, what are you central to?”

*Why that box score text is dated 2016, I don’t know, unless I’ve stumbled through an Internet wormhole.
**Why isn’t that district Central Clayton?

The Midland junior/senior high school in Wyoming has an awkward setup: two separate complexes across the street from each other. The 1914 building was kept by itself while an entirely new building was constructed in the mid-20th century (before the 1950s aerial photos) and that building was the one that got later additions.

Now, after closing all auxiliary sites except the elementary in Oxford Junction, Midland is going to build another school around the “younger” one. The plan (PDF), approved in last week’s bond referendum, uses the existing building as a core while glomming on a second gym and a two-floor expansion (PDF). The 1914 building will be demolished in summer 2017, according to the plan.

A proposed consolidation of the AHST and Walnut school districts next year would result in … the AHSTW school district, the Council Bluffs Nonpareil reported last month.

The new district, which would erase one of the straighter boundaries out there today, would be a continuation of the recent whole-grade sharing agreement between the two old districts and span nearly 20 miles along I-80 in western Iowa.

The photo with the Nonpareil story says Walnut will still house an elementary school, but an Omaha World-Herald story from February indicated the building could be sold to the city.

(And yes, I am pleased with this development.)

The vote in is, reports the Creston News-Advertiser, and by a slim margin, the Prescott school district will be absorbed into the Creston school district. Voter turnout was in the mid-single-digit percentages.

Consolidation will not be official for a while, so Prescott will be a district without students for at least one school year. (I think the article is wrong on the timeline, since the two can become one July 1, 2016. Prescott would have to tuition out only in 2015-16.)

After months of debate, the Iowa Legislature agreed that school should be allowed to start a full week to 10 days earlier than spelled out in current law, which is what should have been done all along. An Aug. 23 date will ensure school starts after the Iowa State Fair with at least one Friday before Labor Day. Hopefully this will put a stop to calendar creep.

Until today, the law mandated a start day as late as Sept. 2 if Sept. 1 falls on Monday (“… no sooner than a day during the calendar week in which the first day of September falls,” and in that case the 1st would be Labor Day) or as early as Aug. 26 if and only if Sept. 1 is a Sunday.

On a related note, Google searches for “Governor/Gov. Gronstal” yielded fewer hits than I expected, although it did grab a Des Moines Register article from 2011. If you know why I searched for that, in relation to this issue or otherwise, congratulations, you’re a legislative wonk.