The leader of the regional agency serving southwest Iowa public schools says the Farragut and Hamburg districts are facing major decisions. A proposal for merging the two small districts failed a little over week ago. Green Hills Area Education Agency Chief Administrator Lane Plugge says the two districts will be asking state administrators for extra spending authority or they’ll need to make drastic cuts.

“In fact, the workout plan in Farragut talks about reducing half of their certified staff and they also are having some corrective action plans for an accreditation visit, and there’ll be a follow-up one after the first of the year,” Plugge said.

Even though the merger, designed to create a new district with more than 300 students, fell seven votes short of passing — Hamburg and Farragut are continuing whole grade sharing. A recount of the votes is scheduled for Thursday.

(Radio Iowa)