CC/E board discusses options for small class sizes

The number of students at Clay Central/Everly Elementary gained the attention of school board members during their regular meeting Sept. 27.

Superintendent Kevin Wood in August reported that 50 students were in grades K-6 at CC/E. He also noted that the kindergarten, second and third grade classes all had five students apiece.

In the face of such low numbers, Wood last week suggested the board start exploring options like combining classes into multi-age rooms. For example, kindergartners could be combined with first graders, second graders with third graders, and so on.

"What that would look like for us, we don't really know yet. It just gives us another option that we can look at in the future," he said. "If we can look at that and [if later] those numbers rebound, we could go back to our traditional classroom teachers. The hope is that we rebound from that."

Wood said a charter school in the Iowa City area has experimented with multi-age classrooms and found success.

"They've seen a lot of growth in their students," he said. "This would give us some time to meet our students where they're at."

Money isn't the main driving factor behind the proposal. Wood said the district's finances are still in good standing with its unspent balance continuing to grow.

"Are we in a financial bind? No. I'd be the first to tell you that," he said. "One thing that always matters is butts in seats. That's important."

Wood suggested the board table agenda items like a parking lot resurfacing project and Nature Learning Center upgrade until the academic situation is addressed. The board will hold work sessions in the near future once five-year projections are compiled.

"It just gives us an opportunity to look at some different options," he said. "We just want make sure we keep that door open so we can potentially move with something like that if we need to in the near future."

Wood in August reported that 13 children were enrolled in the 3- and 4-year-old preschool, but those students don't count in the district's overall enrollment tally.

Clay Central/Everly has only offered grades K-6 since 2019, when the school board voted to cease offering grades 7-12 due to dwindling enrollment. The district now has a whole-grade sharing agreement with the Spencer Community School District for those grades. Many students choose to open-enroll to Sioux Central, Okoboji, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and elsewhere.