The school boards from two northwest Iowa districts have voted to proceed with sharing arrangements.
The Southern Cal and Rockwell City-Lytton School Boards unanimously agreed Tuesday night to proceed with sharing all sports, beginning with the 2010/2011 school year.
The boards also approved whole grade sharing in the fall of 2012. The high school will be in Lake City. A middle school in Rockwell City will host grades five through eight. Both districts will continue to operate their own preschools and elementary buildings for first through fourth graders. That means Southern Cal will keep their Lohrville building open for pre-K through 4th graders, while Rockwell City-Lytton will keep their elementary building in Rockwell City open for pre-K through 4th grades.
Southern Cal superintendent Eric Wood says there are benefits to whole grade sharing.
“Each student that we share between Rockwell City and Southern Cal will generate some additional weighting/supplementary funds from the state, so that will help off-set some of the transportation costs that each district will incur by sending students back and forth,” Wood says. “The other thing is there is a really bleak financial picture in the state start and this will start to provide some much-needed financial stability for these two schools here in Calhoun County.”
According to Wood, the first order of business will be hiring a football coach as soon as possible for the new combined teams from Southern Cal and Rockwell City Lytton. A committee will be formed to work on a new name for the district which will involve both school boards and student council members will begin selecting a new mascot.
Rockwell City-Lytton has been the “Home of the Wildcats” while Southern Cal has been the “Home of the Mustangs.” Southern Cal won the 2009 Class A High School Football Championship.
(Reporting by Jeff Blankman, KCIM, Carroll)