The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 26

v' 8B Des Moines Sunday Registers September 17, 1995 USA REGISTER Year-by-Year Listings Mergers since 1985 in Iowa Small schools dig in, defy daunting odds SCH00L MERGERS HAVE reduced the number of school districts in Iowa in the past 15 years. Here, for the past 15 years, are the number of districts and the number of districts operating their own high schools: MERGERS 430 xfQ-JQ Number with of dtstrlct9- rrdri 400 high schools -V-- rr 378 tSllf353 it" fin "iiiiiiinn i ttliil "'f 1 360 i i i i in i jJLfcwpr 1 35, I XH 0 yi ninyr.y-V I Clay Central-Everly Hubbard-Radcliffe Manson-Northwest Webster Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn Midland (Midland and Lost Nation) Newell-Fonda (Fonda and Newell-Provi-dence) Pocahontas Area (Pocahontas and Rolfe) Pomeroy-Palmer Prairie Valley (Prairie and Cedar Valley) Riverside (Carson-Macedonia and Oakland) Rockwell City-Lytton Schaller-Crestland Sioux Central (Sioux Rapids-Rembrandt and Sioux Valley) South O'Brien (Paullma, Primghar and Sutherland) Southern Cal (Lake City and Lohrville) Union (Dysart-Geneseo and La Porte City) Vinton-Shellsburg 1994: Battle Creek-Ida Grove Belmond-Klemme Boyer Valley (Dow City-Anon and Dunlap) Eddyville-Blakesburg MFL-MarMac (Mar -Mac and M-F-L) MOC-Floyd Valley (Floyd Valley and Maurice-Orange City) West Hancock (Britt and Kanawha) 1995: Benton (Benton and Norway) Clear Creak-Amana Hampton-Dumont Midland (Midland and Oxford Junction) North Cedar (Clarence-Lowden and Lincoln) West Bend-Mallard These school mergers and reorganizations have occurred in Iowa since 1985: 1985: Colfax-Mingo Sibley-Ocheyedjn 1988: Coon Okoboji (Arnolds Park and Miltord) Boone Valley dissolved by voters, sending students to five surrounding districts 1989: Panorama (PanoraLmden and Y-J-B) Pocahontas Area (Havelock-Plover and Pocahontas) 1990: Calamus-Wheatland 1991: Colo-Nesco (Colo and NESCO) HartleyMelvin-Sanborn PCM (Prairie City and Monroe) Southeast Webster (Central Webster and Dayton) Hedrick was dissolved by the Iowa Department of Education and students were sent to three surrounding school districts 1992: BCL-UW (Beaman-Conrad-liscomb and Union-Whitten) Buffalo Center-Rake-Lakota East Marshall (LDF and SEMCO) GMG (Garwin and Green Mountain) IKM (Irwin and Manilla) JeHerson-Scranton Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock 1993: Adel-DeSoto-Minburn Center Point-Urbana Clarion-Goldfield there with me," he said. "The only advantage is it gives you the opportunity to concentrate more on your work." Expensive Schools Such one-on-one tutelage has helped make small schools among the most expensive in the state. So when the state's economy took a turn for the worse in the 1980s at the same time the Iowa Department of Education raised educational standards the pressure to merge started to increase. Legislators began offering financial incentives for districts to merge their operations and save taxpayers money.

Those incentives have dried up. And so has the push to reorganize. Guy Ghan, the Department of Education's expert on school consolidation, said that this year only one new whole-grade sharing agreement has been reached. Whole-grade sharing is considered a first step toward reorganization. Another sign that reorganizations Cmitinued from Page IB FFA chapter and vice president of the National Honor Society chapter thinks his school has survived because of local support.

"The community wants to keep it open," Neill said. "If they didn't want it to be here, it wouldn't be here." There are drawbacks to such a small school. But people here dispute any contention that fewer students mean less quality. For teachers, it simply means teaching a wide range of courses. For students, it means having to drive to another school to practice with a full band.

Neill doesn't think he missed out. He did fine on his ACT college entrance exam a 33 on the 36-point test. But he admits it can be lonely being the only student in accounting and chemistry II courses. "I'd rather have somebody else in 1931-82 19S3-B4 1985-86 1987-88 SOURCE: Iowa Department ol Education 1989-90 1991-92 1993-94 1995-96 I' These are the 50 smallest Iowa school districts that were still operating high schools during the 1994-95 school year. The current year's figures are not yet available from the Iowa Department of Education.

The average enrollment in Iowa schools last year was 1 ,283, according to state statistics. DISTRICT K-12 ENROLLMENT Garnavillo 338 Cal (Latimer) 338 Corwith-Wesley 345 Albert City-Truesdale 349 Exira 366 N.E. Hamilton (Blairsburg) ...371 Orient-Macksburg 371 Mormon Trail 372 Charter Oak-Ute 375 Janesville 384 Jff? DISTRICT K-12 ENROLLMENT Lineville-Clio 115 Diagonal 168 Russell 209 Woden-Crystal Lake 219 Fox Valley (Milton) 221 East Monona (Moorhead) ....232 Whiting 240 Paton-Churdan 247 Terril 258 Dows 263 Walnut 294 Bennett 297 Elk Horn-Kimballton 298 Stanton 304 Sentral (Fenton) 306 Essex 311 Moulton-Udell 311 Andrew 318 Murray 318 Ventura 318 Nishna Valley (Hastings) 318 and (Massena) 319 Graettinger 327 Hamburg 328 Baxter 333 Anita 385 Harris-Lake Park 387 Malvern 389 Farragut 391 Preston 396 4' Ar-We-Va(Westside) 397 Miiiauii-Dr ibiuw wu Ruthven-Ayshire 401 Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock 403 S. Page (College Springs) 408 Fredricksburg 409 Pomeroy-Palmer 41 1 N. Winneshiek (Decorah) 412 Greene 414 Moravia 417 have slowed is Ghan himself: He is suddenly not quite so busy.

At the height of merger activity, Ghan was doing 30 feasibility studies a year for districts pondering mergers. "There were times I had a 10-study backlog," Ghan said. "Districts had to wait six months before I could get to them. Then in May, all of a sudden I was caught up." Dire Predictions The dire predictions about districts of fewer than 1,000 students being shut down didn't come close to being realized. Last year, more than half of Iowa's 390 districts had fewer than 1 ,000 students.

But Ghan said the push for consolidations will threaten Iowa's small schools again, probably before this year's kindergartners graduate from high school. The state has had three consolidation movements since 1900, Ghan said. "The time between the first and the second one was 30 years. The time between the second and third was 20 years. I anticipate that this one would be 10 years at the max." Two reasons for Ghan's prediction technology and old buildings are factors in Lineville's future.

Lineville-Clio is connected to the Internet, and its leaders hold out hope for the prospects of the state's fiber-optic network. But any technology improvements will be expensive. The old brick schoolhouse on the north end of town is also a problem. The state fire marshal's office recently recommended that a structur- Eyeglasses Any frame Even designer names Any prescription Even lined bifocals and trifocals A al and electrical engineer examine the building. Some $30,000 in repairs and improvements are needed.

Tough Choices If age or technology needs finally overtake the old building, residents here will have a tough choice: Should they try to pass a bond issue for a new building that might be closed even before it can be paid of But they have always been looking over their shoulders in Line-ville. In the school's spacious library, there are framed class portraits hanging high on the plaster walls The oldest ones, dusty and yellow-, ing, date back to the 1 930s. The portraits show the boonV years in the 1960s when graduating classes numbered in the high i They show the lean years three graduates in 1990. Someday, the folks in probably won't be able to hang another picture here, breaking a 60'' year tradition. But it won't be this year.

Tiny Lineville-Clio Community' School District has survived. Again. i Iowansvote in Congress $99 Right now. get any frame -including designer names like Christie Brinkley Perspectives! J. David, Nickelodeonand more -and any prescription with single-vision, lined bifocal or trifocal uncoated Dlastic lenses.

That's a comolete coir of evealasses for onlv $99! Eyeglasses Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. fcye eiamnatons aakXe from independent Doctors ol Optometry al or nett to most departments Dispensing of eyewear requres a vata prescnphon Offor may not be combned with any other account, coupon. von care ptan or prior orders Lens treatments such cc no-bno fcfocOs avaotto at rWclronal cost Afvaat3 at parnccatng Sears cst stores exoopt Arkansas. Ckxa orxl wnere prchrrted by taw ijp." ftmtlcrt 0rtu ordt fmn Coupon must be prosenfcjd at nmeot order Cash value 120S Optical RtS P99 Tlie Register's Newspaper in Education pivgram teaches you how to integrate newspapers into your lesson plans, easily and inexpensively. Learn more! Call The Register's NIE Coordinator in Des Moines at 284-8513 or 1-800-365-IOWA, ext.

8513 for details. MERLE HAY MALL 278-7342 SOUTHRIDGE MALL 287-0615 fTlir Ufa fllumn firtiifttrr FromTiikRkoistkk'sWasiiingtonBi'rkau Washington, D.C. These are roll-call votes of Iowa members of Congress for Sept. 5-8: SENATE VOTES 'r? Approved, 62-3S, (For: Charlet Grauley, Re publican; Against: Tom Harkln, Democrat) bill dVO' provide $242.7 billion in new budget authority for the Department ot Defense. Approved, 65-13, (For: Grauley; Agalnrt' Harkln) amendment to allow tor the development p-ot an "affordable and operationally effective" mis- sile defense system that is limited to address only "accidental, unauthorized or limited attacks." Approved, 64-34, (For: Grauley; Against Harkln), fiscal 1996 defense authorization bill.

Defeated, 54-45, (For: Harkln: Against: Grau-ley) amendment by Democrats to establish a ferent set of requirements tor welfare recipients than in the Republican bill. Approved. 92-6, (For Grauley, Harkln) amend- ment to provide that money is expended in accor dance with state laws, and procedures relating to the expenditure of state revenues. 1 Approved, 91-6, (For Grauley, Harkln) amend. ment to eliminate welfare benefits with respect to felons and probation and parole violators.

Approved, 87-5, (For Grauley, Harkln) amenoV ment to impose a cap on the amount of monej that can be used for administrative purposes. Approved, 91-0, (For: Grauley. Harkin) amend-ment to provide that non-custodial parents whd are delinquent in paying child support are ble for means-tested federal benefits. Kma'di ohV) I I 1' HA IS I I' HOUSE VOTES SCWV Visit one of our convenient retail locations: Ames: 2801 Grand Avenue North Grand Mall 515232-2100 Ankeny: 502 North Ankeny Blvd. 515965-9797 Cedar FallsWaterloo: College Square Mall 6301 University Avenue 319266-3500 Cedar Rapids: 300 Collins Road NE 319350-6004 Westdale Mall 2600 Edgewood Road SW 319350-5200 Davenport: 4550 North Brady Street 319349-8000 Des Moines: 1903 EP True Parkway 515223-4880 Cobblestone Market 8475 Hickman 515249-8800 Dubuque: 806 Wacker Drive 319583-9000 Mason City: 642 South Monroe Street 515424-3300 Moline: 1535 47th Avenue 309762-9600 Or.

call 800292-0066 from anywhere In Iowa ATE ALSO COVER THE BRIDGES IN WARREN COUNTY, BOONE COUNTY AND BLACKHAWK COUNTY. Approved, 228-179, (For: Greg Gantka, Toni Latham, Jim Leach, Jim Rou Lightfoot, Jim Nuv tie, Republicans) motion to end debate on bring- 1 ing to the House floor a conference committee re- port, which would provide nearly $2.2 billion in new budget authority for the legislative branch in fiscal 1996. Defeated. 243-164, (Against: Ganske, Latham, ft Leach, Lightfoot, Nustle) motion to send the conference report back to the conference 'If-' Approved, 305-101, (For: Ganske, Latham, Leach, Lightfoot, Nustle) proposal to provide in new budget authority tor th i) legislative branch in fiscal 1996. Defeated, 213-210, (Against: Lightfoot: For Gantka, Latham, Leach, Nustle) amendment to cut funding tor the B-2 stealth bomber.

Defeated, 293-126, (Against: Gantke, Latham, Leach, Lightfoot: Not voting: Nuule) amend- ment to cut $1 billion Irom the $2 3 billion providi ed for the research and development of the F-22 advanced tactical fighter plane. Defeated, 224-194, (Againtt: Gantka, Latham. Lightfoot, Nuule; For Leach) amendment to prohibit abortions at overseas military facilities unless, the life of the woman is endangered or the govern, ment is reimbursed with private money for any costs associated with the abortion. -( 'J- Approved, 226-191, (Againtt: Leach: Gantke, Latham, Lightfoot, Nuule) amendment to prohibit abortions at overseas military facilities unless the lite of the woman is endangered. Defeated, 325-93, (Againtt: Gantka, Leach, Lightfoot, Nuule), amendment to reduce' funding tor the Notional Foreign Intelligence PrO.7,' gram.

Approved, 294-195, (Againtt: Gantke; For: Latham, Leach, Lightfoot, Nuule), bill appropriating i money for the Department ol Defense for fiscal 1996. Defeated. 343-75, (Againtt: Gantke, Latham: Leach, Lightfoot, Nuule), bill disapproving recommendations ot the Delense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Approved. 387-31, (For: Gantke, Leach, Lightfoot, Nuule), motion to House conferees to agree to the Senate amend-ment.

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