(Radio Iowa) – Leaders of the Orient-Macksburg School District in southwest Iowa are considering dissolving the district, something that hasn’t happened in Iowa since the Corwith-Wesley Schools shut down in 2015.

Orient-Macksburg Superintendent Jeff Kruse says it’s not an easy decision, and there are several factors the board is considering for closing the nearly 65-year-old school district. Kruse says the primary concerns are dropping student numbers and finding qualified teachers.

“Staffing is an issue that the district’s faced, like a number of other schools,” Kruse says, “and secondly, enrollment. The district has a certified count of about 170 students, but we serve approximately 100 students because we have a large number of enrolled out compared to open enrolled in.” Kruse says financial projections show the district will be overspending its authority within the next year or so.

He says Orient-Macksburg had to spend almost all of its carryover balance to ensure requirements are met, leaving little funding flexibility. The superintendent says accreditation has been another issue due to class sizes.

“In order to be accredited, you have to offer certain curriculum and it has to be taught,” he says. “Because of our small class sizes, it’s sometimes difficult to get students in all the courses that need to be taught to meet certification.”

Last fall, Kruse says Green Hills AEA conducted a feasibility study for the district that provided several options for the district. One option included whole grade sharing with the Nodaway Valley School District at the 7-12 grade level, while continuing to operate a pre-K-6 district. Kruse says the financial side of keeping the district open doesn’t add up for the school board.

“While re-organization is an option that some districts go through,” Kruse says, “because of all the consolidation and the distance our district has, they just felt it would be better off if we explored dissolving. Then we could allow neighboring districts, if they want to be a part of that dissolution process, to acquire some of the district.”

While the voters have the final say via a ballot question requiring a simple majority, according to Iowa Code, if the school board goes in the direction of dissolution, it will have 15 days to form a seven-person dissolution committee made up of people who live in the district and are eligible to vote.

“That commission is held responsible for contacting neighboring school districts to see if they would like to acquire part of the property of Orient-Macksburg,” Kruse says. “Then, secondly, they would develop boundary lines to separate the district with those other neighboring districts.”

School board members are expected to formally consider dissolving and have a decision by the end of next month, which would not take effect until after the 2024-25 school year. Orient merged with Macksburg in 1960 to form the current district, which covers parts of Adair, Madison, Adams, and Union counties.

(Anita, Iowa) -UPDATE: The driver was out as of 12:48-p.m., the tractor DID NOT flip. Rescue crews that were enroute were told to “disregard.” Additional details are currently not available.

Rescue crews from Anita, and Cass EMS were called to the scene of an Iowa DOT tractor rollover accident, early this (Wednesday) afternoon. The accident at 750th and Keystone (Between Anita and Massena) was reported at around 12:32-p.m. The tractor was said to have rolled into a ditch. The operator was unable to get out of the vehicle. Unknown if there any injuries.

Anita Fire was requested for additional personnel at 12:41-p.m.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The annual Nine & Wine Fundraiser for the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce will be held June 21st at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. Nine & Wine is not your typical golf tournament! The tournament features nine holes of golf in a best ball style game. Each hole has an appetizer, wine, and beer tasting. After nine holes of wine and beer tasting, participants will be served a meal.

Participants can register at atlanticiowa.com. The registration fee is $300 for teams of four. This includes appetizers and wine or beer tasting at all nine holes. Dinner will be served after the tournament as you listen to music and mingle with friends.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is seeking the public’s assistance in locating missing teen, Hayley Pelley.  The 17-year-old teen from Bellevue, NE, went missing from her home on May 4, 2024. Authorities believe that Hayley may be in Omaha, Nebraska or travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Hayley Pelley is described as being Five-feet tall, and weighing approximately 90-lbs. She has blue eyes and brown hair but may currently have dyed blonde hair.

Hayley Pelley (Credit: NCMEC)

If you have any information about Hayley or her disappearance, please contact NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the Bellevue Police Department (Nebraska) at 1-402-593-4111.

(Radio Iowa) – Eighteen Iowans were interviewed May 29th for a vacancy on the Iowa Court of Appeals. Thomas Bower of Cedar Falls, the chief judge on the Iowa Court of Appeals since 2019, will retire in June. The 17-member State Judicial Nominating Commission began in-person interviews with 10 judges and eight attorneys who applied to join the Court of Appeals.

Among those interviewed, was:

• Aaron Ahrendsen, Attorney, Eich Werden Steger & Ahrendsen PC, Assistant Carroll County Attorney, from Manning.
• John Gish, Chief, Victim Assistance Section, Iowa Attorney General’s Office, in Adel
• Maura Sailer, Attorney, Lohman, Reitz, Sailer, Ullrich & Blazek, in Denison

The commission will submit five nominees to Governor Reynolds and she’ll have 30 days to decide which one of the nominees to appoint — or she has the authority to ask the commission to reconvene and come up with a new slate of nominees.

The chief attorney for the Victims Assistance section of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the legal counsel for the Iowa Department of Education are among the applicants for the slot on the Iowa Court of Appeals.

(Guernsey, Iowa) – In an update to our report last weekend, the Iowa State Patrol has released the names of two juveniles, one of whom died, during a UTV accident that occurred Friday evening (May 24th). The operator of the UTV, 11-year-old Sam Schaeffer, was flown to the UIHC, where a report on his condition is not available. His passenger, 13-year-old Nolan Bayer died from his injuries, when the 2016 Polaris Ranger Crew went out of control southeast of Guernsey, in rural Poweshiek County, as the machine was rounding a curve in the road. The UTV rolled onto the driver’s side. The accident happened at around 5:20-p.m., Friday. The Patrol’s report did not indicate where the youth were from.

The accident remains under investigation.