This week’s Mid Prairie school board meeting delved into the decisionmaking faced by the district’s recent vote to have Kalona Elementary house kindergarten through second grades, Wellman Elementary house kindergarten and third through fourth grades, fifth grade moving to the middle school, and keeping preschool classes in both elementary buildings. Superintendent Mark Schneider gave an updates to the board including teacher assignments, kindergarten waivers, transportation options, and proposed school name changes.

Schneider proposed that Kalona and Wellman’s building names be changed to Mid Prairie Lower Elementary, and Mid Prairie Upper Elementary, respectively. These proposed names garnered a mixed reaction from the board. Board member Jim Hussey explained the negative connotations that he read in those school names, though Schneider pointed out that this naming convention is not uncommon. Schneider talked about trying to keep a unity among the school district, “…Because we’re Mid Prairie, we don’t refer to it as Mid Prairie High School, or we don’t refer to it, excuse me, as Wellman High School. We don’t refer to it as Kalona Middle School. If you want to refer to it as Wellman Elementary or Kalona Elementary than you need to change the high school to Wellman High School and the middle school to Kalona Middle School.”

Schneider then said “The sooner we get back to normal the better.” A vote was not made to change the school name at that time. Schneider explains how school landmarks would not be affected pending a name change “We do have signs, for instance the sign at Kalona Elementary was donated in the memory of a former elementary principal and obviously we’re not gonna take that down and we’re not gonna change that but, there may be signage elsewhere that the name is changed but anything that’s permanent or that was done as a memorial or a gift we’re not going to mess with that.”

Other possible names for the elementary schools proposed were primary and intermediate.