Interim Superintendent Tom Williams said the school’s board of education has been looking for ways for the district to become more efficient, which precipitated the discussions.

“We have an outstanding board of education, and they’re very committed to making sure students are first in every decision,” he said. “We did go through a process this fall to look at our vision, mission, core values and goals. And so they held several meetings to look and review all that.”

The final goals will be presented to the board at a meeting next month.

Williams called it “an important process.”

“The board is really willing to put in the time needed to do important work and to really focus on keeping our students first in every decision,” he said.

Overall, Williams said this year has gone pretty well for the Algona Community School District.

The school did struggle a bit last year, he said, but things have, for the most part, smoothed over.

“They had some turmoil last year, last spring with a lot of budget cuts,” he said.

Additionally, longtime Superintendent Marty Fonley left the district over the summer, which led to the board hiring Williams as an interim superintendent.

Right now the district is in the hiring process for a full-time superintendent in time for the 2019-2020 school year.

“Things seem to be going well,” Williams said of the district. “We had a great fall. Our football team ended up qualifying for state playoffs and all our athletic teams are doing really well. We’re really pleased with that.”

Students and staff are preparing for state assessments.

“Our teachers are working very hard to get our students prepared to take the state assessments,” Williams said. “While it’s only one measure, it does provide us with some comparisons with how we’re doing at the state and national level. That’s always, I think, a very important part of the year, is when we get ready for those assessments.”

Both basketball and wrestling are in the middle of their seasons, and Williams said activities are popular.

“We have an outstanding band and vocal music program as well,” he said. “There’s opportunities for the community to be involved and to attend and participate in the concerts that we have.”

The Ed and Betty Wilcox Performing Arts Center, located at the school, provides a venue that both the school and community are welcome to use.

It was completed in 2017.

Williams called it “one of the finest performing arts centers in Iowa, I think, and probably the Midwest.”

It can seat 850 people.

Williams also touted the school’s graduation rate, which is usually between 94 and 95 percent, as well as the school’s partnerships with local businesses.

All students have access to Chromebooks, and the Algona School Foundation has been successful in raising scholarship money.

Academics are also going well.

“We have an excellent staff, highly qualified teachers and administrators,” he said. “They all really provide an excellent curriculum to our students and our students perform very well. And our students have a lot of success at the post-secondary level — colleges and universities, technical schools.”

Williams also said his year as interim superintendent has gone well.

“Algona’s a great community,” he said. “They’re very supportive and they have excellent facilities and great programs for the students. I think people typically are very proud of the Algona Community School District and they support the schools extremely well.”