WAKEFIELD — Board members from four schools in northeast Nebraska held a strategic planning workshop at the Education Service Unit in Wakefield on Sept 30.
Close to 40 school board members, administrators and patrons from the Coleridge, Laurel-Concord, Newcastle and Wynot School districts discussed the future of the inter-local agreement for sharing that the schools have been involved in.
Burma Kroger, Director of Board Development for the Nebraska Association of School Boards chaired the workshop.
The hot topic of the evening was football and the possibility of developing a middle school for the Coleridge and Laurel-Concord Schools.

Pre-school through fourth grade students from the Coleridge district are currently being bused to Laurel for classes. The Coleridge School Board members are looking at possibly busing the high school students to Laurel for the 2010-2011 school year.
Consideration for developing a middle school that would be located in Coleridge for both Laurel-Concord and Coleridge students is currently on the table.
“We need to collect information and make informed decisions,” said Rich Patton, who serves as Superintendent for the four schools.
Patton has been meeting with members of the faculty, students, parents and economic development groups to discuss the option of a middle school for Laurel-Concord and Coleridge.
“Coleridge has a beautiful facility,” Patton said.
Junior high school is a replication of a high school where a middle school is adapted around the ages of fifth through eighth grade students according to Patton.
“What happens in middle school affects kids forever — we would organize the school around that age group,” said Patton. “It is set up so teachers can intervene quickly if a student is having trouble.”
The original goals for the four schools as they entered into the inter-local agreement for sharing included providing a quality education for all students, operate in the most cost efficient manner possible and maintain a school in each community.
Laurel/Coleridge Principals Stephanie Petersen and Les Owen shared information on the middle school concept.
The benefits of having a middle school in Coleridge would be more space, more rooms and more activities according to Petersen.
A Coleridge Middle School would have its own science lab, music room, art room, technology labs, industrial technology site and a library geared to middle school students.
“The fifth through eighth grade students would have their own space at the Middle School,” Petersen said.
Board members from Newcastle and Wynot are interested in the next steps that will be taken by Laurel-Concord and Coleridge Schools.
“We are all part of this — we have been watching this for a long time. We may be doing the same thing in a few years,” said Wynot school board member Laurie Shulte.
The inter-local agreement for sharing among the four schools has been unique. Other school boards from across the state have been observing the advantages from an inter-local agreement and have sought out additional information from the school’s administrative staff.
Newcastle Principal Joey Lefdal and Wynot Principal Rich Higgins both said they have had other schools make contact about working with them.
“We have had other schools talk to us. Laurel’s decision does affect us,” said Lefdal.
The decision on making a move to a middle school is entwined with a possible football co-op between Coleridge and Laurel-Concord.
Board members from the two schools are looking at a football co-op for the next school year.
“We have a good program at Laurel,” said Patton. “There are 17 upperclassmen – next year we drop to 10 upperclassmen.”
Patton said the high school is currently very close to the state enrollment requirement to be eligible to play eight-man football.
Coleridge currently has 12 players on an eight-man team, one of whom is out with a knee injury.
The numbers for Laurel-Concord football include nine seniors, eight juniors, two sophomores and eight freshmen.
Coleridge has six seniors, two juniors (one injured), three sophomores and one freshman.
A decision on the football coop will have to be made before Nov. 6 in order to have the paperwork in place for next year.
The schools would have until the end of November to change plans and withdraw from a football co-op.
The Coleridge and Laurel-Concord schools are already involved in a cooperative agreement for wrestling, golf and cross country. The junior high football and volleyball teams practice together.
A timeline for making a decision on developing a middle school was discussed.
“Where do we go from here?” Patton asked.
Board members were hoping for a good turnout at the Information Meeting which was held on Oct. 5 concerning the Coleridge Middle School proposal.
“We should have a better feel about the middle school issue after the meeting,” said Laurel-Concord board member Tim Bearnes.
“The middle school decision will probably be one of the biggest decisions I will ever make as a board member — I am not ready to make that decision yet,” said Laurel-Concord board member Garry Anderson.
The cooperative efforts of sharing, along with distance education, has made a difference in the budgets for the four schools.
The cost savings between the four schools on what we are sharing amounts to nearly a million dollars,” said Craig Frerichs, Director of Administration, Business and Distance Education.
Money is saved by sharing administrative staff, teachers, athletic director, web-page design and updates, policy manual updates, expensive custodial equipment, custodians, maintenance personnel, vehicles, and grant writing, along with state and federal reports.
The four schools sell distance education courses to other school districts and generate $1,500 to $4,500 per class.
The students have the experience and skills to take distance education courses before starting college.
Many of the students are earning college credits while still in high school.
“When I look at these four schools and see the number of high school kids that have completed college credits – I am impressed,” said Kroger.