Harmony Community School District

Harmony Community School District was a school district which was, at the end of its existence, headquartered in unincorporated Van Buren County, Iowa, near Farmington.[1] It served sections of Van Buren, Henry, and Lee counties. Communities in its service area included Farmington, Bonaparte, and Hillsboro.[2]

In previous eras it had its headquarters in Bonaparte.[3] In 2016 the high school closed and the elementary moved into the former high school building.[4] At the end of its existence the district operated one school, Harmony Elementary School near Farmington, and sent students to Van Buren Junior-Senior High School in Keosauqua as part of a grade-sharing arrangement.

History

The state of Iowa had changed its scheme for funding public schools, and the numbers of students in area schools had decreased.[5] In January 2016 the Harmony district and the Van Buren Community School District agreed to begin a grade-sharing arrangement in which Harmony-zoned students attended Van Buren schools for grades 7–12. The Harmony district repurposed the Farmington high school building for its elementary schools.[6] The arrangement began in fall 2016. The Harmony district's junior and senior high school closed the previous spring. The final graduating class consisted of 15 students.[4]

In January 2018 the administrations of the Van Buren and Harmony districts began to consider merging. In February 2018 83% of the voters in the Van Buren and Harmony districts voted to merge, with 94% (of 637 voters) in favor in the pre-merger Van Buren district and 72% (of 619 voters) in favor in the pre-merger Harmony district.[7] The requirement for a merge was for both districts to each have over 50% of voters in favor.[8]

There was a single superintendent and school board for both areas beginning on July 1, 2019.[7] On that day the Van Buren County Community School District formed.[9]

Schools

It formerly operated Harmony Elementary in Bonaparte, Harmony Middle School in Farmington,[3] and Harmony High School in unincorporated Van Buren County.[10]

References

  1. ^ Home. Harmony Community School District. Retrieved on June 20, 2018. "33727 Route J40 Farmington, IA 52626" - To find on Google Maps, look for "Harmony High School, Route J40, Farmington, IA, USA"
  2. ^ "Harmony." Iowa Department of Education. Retrieved on June 20, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Harmony Community School District." Southern Prairie Area Education Agency 15. May 10, 1997. Retrieved on June 20, 2018. "Administrative Offices 1st & Washington Bonaparte, Iowa 52620"
  4. ^ a b Aguirre, Joey (2016-05-23). "Harmony sends off its final graduating class". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  5. ^ "Voters approve consolidation of two Iowa school districts". Newton Daily News. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  6. ^ Aguirre, Joey (2016-01-31). "Harmony/Van Buren make whole grade sharing official". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  7. ^ a b Niehaus, Michaele (2018-02-06). "Van Buren, Harmony to merge". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  8. ^ Niehaus-Steffensmeier, Michaele (2018-01-14). "Voters could derail consolidation of districts". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  9. ^ "Iowa Educational Directory 2019-2020 School Year" (PDF). Iowa Department of Education. p. 175. Retrieved 2020-04-05. (PDF p. 177/186) - From section "REORGANIZATION & DISSOLUTION ACTIONS SINCE 1965-66"
  10. ^ "Harmony". AEA 15. 2006-10-11. Archived from the original on 2006-10-11. Retrieved 2020-04-06. Harmony High School (Grades 9-12) 33727 Route J40 Farmington, Iowa 52626-9801

Further reading

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