Hartley, Iowa — A northwest Iowa school district will be closing one of its three school buildings starting in the fall of 2019.
The Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Community Schools currently have three buildings that house the District’s students, but are planning to close the District’s oldest building.
Voters in the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school district have failed to approve a bond issue for remodeling and construction at the high school building in Hartley on three separate occasions. Superintendent Bill Thmpson says the HMS School Board has recognized that there are critical systems updates needed at all three facilities, so the consolodation into two attendance centers allows the District to focus it’s limited resources on the two remaining buildings.
Beginning in the fall of 2019, the current middle school building in Sanborn will house TK through 4th graders, along with 5th and 6th grades. Students in grades 7 through 12 will be located at the current high school site in Hartley.
Thompson says there are some things that need to be done at each of the remaining buildings in order to accomodate the increased number of students.
He says the district’s enrollment has remained relatively steady over the years, allowing district officials the opportunity to make the two building plan work.
Thompson says he doesn’t know if another bond issue will be attempted in the future, but he says the school board is open to that, or any other options that will benefit the students, communities and the entire district.
Thompson says any plans for the current elementary building will be deferred until resources become available. He says the HMS administration is in the process of working on the details for the transition, and will be working with faculty and staff to make the transition as seamless as possible for all HMS students.
