The Fort Dodge Community School District is proceeding with its eventual plan to move the fifth grade out of the Fort Dodge Middle School.

The district’s Board of Education met briefly Thursday night to discuss its next steps.

“Moving fifth grade out of the middle school will give us the chance to better align our curriculum for grades three through five, which increases the potential for positive student achievement levels,” said Stu Cochrane, board president. “This change will also create a smaller, more manageable middle school with grades six through eight and will provide us the opportunity to balance our elementary enrollment while allowing for growth at all buildings.”

Just exactly how that will be accomplished is something that will be determined in future weeks.

The district’s administration has been asked to develop proposals for the eventual move.

One potential proposal includes converting the Central Administration Building at 104 S. 17th St. back to its former use as an elementary education space.

The facility, the former Arey Elementary School, could be a Kindergarten Campus or a Fifth Grade Academy.

In the model with the Fifth Grade Academy, the district’s four elementary schools would remain K-4 buildings. However, if the Arey building is made a Kindergarten Campus, the four elementary schools would house first through fifth grades.

Superintendent Dr. Jesse Ulrich will present all options at a future board meeting.

Matt Wagner, board vice president, said regardless of how the move is accomplished, he believes the community favors the decision.

“It’s been out there,” Wagner said. “It’s been in the paper. I have received nothing negative about the concept of moving the fifth grade out of the middle school.”

He added, “By this time I would have heard from someone who was opposed to it and I haven’t heard that.”

Cochrane agreed.

“I think everybody has universally heard feedback that supports moving the fifth grade out of middle school,” Cochrane said. “It looks like it will be a better educational format.”

The earliest the move would take place would be the 2021-22 school year.