The Mid-Prairie School Board met in regular session Monday night in the Multipurpose Room at Mid-Prairie High School.

On the agenda was a board focus on elementary learning vision and equalizing class sizes across the district’s elementary schools. With three options up for discussion, the board chose “Option C” which will result in Kalona Elementary housing Kindergarten through second grades, Wellman Elementary housing Kindergarten, third and fourth grade, Washington Township Elementary becoming the home of the Home School Assistance Program, and a potential future home of the district’s preschool program, and fifth grade students moving to the middle school. The vote passed unanimously.

The other options on the table included “Option A”, all three elementary schools continue to function as Kindergarten through fifth grade centers with enforced boundary lines. “Option B” would have established Wellman and Kalona Elementaries as Kindergarten through fourth grade attendance centers with fifth grade moving to the middle school and Washington Township becoming the home of the Home School Assistance Program.

Mid-Prairie School Board President Jeremy Pickard talked after the meeting about the difficulty of the decision and the board’s vision on moving forward, “This is a huge opportunity for us, we have these next few months before August to get ready to really launch into a new era of Mid-Prairie Schools, and who wouldn’t want to be part of that? My students and whole family has attended Washington Township, and so by re-purposing that center, that is an emotional loss for us, but at the same time, for me, I was willing to have that loss in order for what I saw as a greater gain coming together as a complete district. Sure there are going to be some sad tears, but I’m guessing a couple of years from now it’s just going to be normal for everyone and that’s how we will function as a district.”

Mid-Prairie Superintendent Mark Schneider says that this change will be implemented over the summer and the new building formats will begin this fall with the new school year.