The Mid-Prairie School Board has chosen not to join the Rural School Advocates of Iowa. The group had invited Mid-Prairie to join, and Superintendent Mark Schneider attended one of their meetings to learn more. After sharing his findings with the school board, Schneider says the board wasn’t interested. Schneider explains their membership would have involved paying dues that would allow the group to hire a lobbyist.

Mid-Prairie is already a member of the Iowa Association of School Boards and Schneider is a member of the School Administrators of Iowa, which are both represented by lobbyists. Schneider explains that those groups lobby in the interests of all schools, while the Rural School Advocates wants to focus on issues important to small districts.