Superintendent's Message for March 2020

The school year is flying by very fast!!  March has arrived in #twolvesterritory!  We have so many exciting things happening.  Check out our Facebook page (Southwest Valley School District) and our district website (southwestvalley.org).

We continue to progress forward with the reorganization of our districts.  I have been asked several times, when is the consolidation happening.  We are not consolidating.  We are reorganizing the two districts to form one solid district.

Villisca and Corning are in year seven of their whole grade sharing agreement, which has built the foundation for the reorganization.  Reorganization to one viable and strong district is just the next move.  As your Superintendent, I have been working with both business managers, unions, and others to work through the process to allow for a smooth transition.

Last year, we worked with the unions to establish a unified salary schedule and align our professional development and teacher evaluation processes. This process is joint employment and qualifies our districts for reorganization incentive money for the next six years.

  The next step is to establish a reorganization committee.  This committee will comprise of constituents from both districts.  This committee, with guidance from the school’s attorney, will draft a petition for circulation late this summer or early next fall.  The petition will be submitted to Green Hills AEA upon completion.  Following receipt of the petition, Green Hills AEA will review our plan and if our petition complies with the plans, which have been adopted by our board, they will set a date for the hearing on the petition in March 2021.  Green Hills AEA will also assist with establishing the new school board for the district.

We will organize community informational meetings about the reorganization this fall.  Our plans for reorganization are to maintain our current property tax levy rates, continue to utilize all buildings, and continue activities and athletics in both communities.

 Our district is headed in the right direction and we have the leadership, staff, students, and constituents to make our district the “Destination District!”