Over the course of the next several meetings, the Mid-Prairie School Board is expected to spend a lot of time on normalizing class sizes at the three elementary schools. One of the focus areas of Mid-Prairie’s elementary study group’s vision for the district is improving education at the elementary schools by having more uniform class sizes. Superintendent Mark Schneider says the school board encourages feedback from the public as they discuss their course of action, “They’re still considering options for equalizing class sizes. It’s something that will probably be discussed for another two or three school board meetings. Obviously we welcome anyone in the public that would like to come and be part of those discussions.”

According to Schneider, the average elementary class sizes are around 25 students at Kalona, 17 students at Washington Township, and 22 students at Wellman. Mid-Prairie currently has a policy that any parent can send their child to any school in the district, as there are no boundaries. While that has worked in the past, Schneider says that system no longer seems to be working. Some solutions the board will explore include instituting boundaries, or using attendance centers, where all students in one grade go to one location. Schneider says any option has it’s pros and cons, and it’s up to the school board to find what’s best for the district.