4 directors elected to AEA board

Four northwest Iowa residents were recently elected to the Northwest Area Education Agency (AEA) board. They are Amy Jurrens, District 1; Patrick Murphy, District 4; Henry Jessen, District 5; and Julie DeGroot, District 7.

By state law, members of AEA boards represent geographic areas known as director districts. Each has been determined to contain about the same population. Local school boards in each district elect a person to represent them on the AEA board. Each school board is allowed a percentage of votes equal to the percentage of their district's population in the AEA director district.

Jurrens, who works as a professor at Northwest Iowa Community College, represents schools in District 1 which is comprised of the Central Lyon, George-Little Rock, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, Rock Valley, Sibley-Ocheyedan and West Lyon school districts.

Murphy, of Le Mars, represents schools in District 4 (Hinton, Le Mars and MOC-Floyd Valley); Jessen represents schools in District 5 (Ar-We-Va, OABCIG, Denison, Galva-Holstein, Maple Valley-Anthon Oto and Schleswig); and DeGroot represents District 7, which is made up of the central portion of Sioux City.