In response to declining rural school enrollment and the challenges it poses, the Algona district is looking to merge with the Lu Verne Community School District.

In spring 2020, both districts signed a resolution to study reorganization. The studies both recommended reorganization, so the districts are currently collecting petition signatures in order to put the reorganization plan to a district-wide vote, according to Algona Superintendent Joe Carter.

“We currently hold a grade-share with Lu Verne,” Carter said. “All students in grades six through 12 from Lu Verne attend Algona schools.”

The districts share “a number of different resources,” he said, including a director of transportation, director of buildings and grounds and curriculum director.

The districts have until March 1 to collect the signatures — 400 for Algona, and 200 for Lu Verne.

If enough signatures are collected, the issue will be put on the ballot for the city and school board elections to be held in September. If the voters approve of the plan, it will go into effect for the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

The plan would be for Lu Verne Elementary School to close and those students will be folded into the Algona Community School District.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to hire staff in all of rural Iowa,” Carter said. “We really think the reorganization of the two districts is the best chance to provide the best environment for students in both districts.”

In 2021, Algona Community School District increased its enrollment, the superintendent said, increasing by 44 students over the previous school year.

“In a rural district, any year that we don’t lose students, we consider that a plus,” Carter said.

The district’s certified enrollment was 1,418 students, which is the largest that enrollment has been in the last 17 years, he added.

Algona Schools recently completed a $2.5 million Athletic Gateway Project, which revamped the district’s outdoor sports facilities, creating a single entrance and updated amenities. The project included a new concession stand, new ticket offices, new restrooms and handicap accessibility.

“We’re ADA compliant, which we weren’t before,” Carter said. “And then we also built a new softball field with that project, so we’re really excited about the Gateway Project and getting that completed.”

The project was funded through the state one-cent sales tax, known as SAVE, Carter said.

“So no property tax was used in the completion of that project and no one’s taxes increased,” he said.