Superintendent Dr. Kerri Nelson told KCSI and KOAK Wednesday morning that Shenandoah’s overall enrollment is steady, but the number of students who live in the district is down 71, and most of those families are no longer in southwest Iowa.
The Oct. 1 count is certified on the front end. Districts have until the 30th to certify a second time after corrections. Nelson has been in the data since the last interview. The students who left the Shenandoah resident count are not at Sidney, Red Oak, or any other local public school.
“What’s concerning to me is they’re not in southwest Iowa,” she said. “They’re not attending any other school. And so my question is, where are they?” Further work shows many have moved to more urban areas. She said it is the first year like this in eight or nine years. She plans to watch the numbers weekly until the final is done. A second count comes in mid-January.
HVAC and soccer
The K-8 northwest classroom wing HVAC project is moving. Public notice is on the district website and on Blue Beam. A pre-bid meeting is next Wednesday. The public hearing and board action are set for Nov. 16. The work is packaged as a base project with alternates, so the board can drop pieces if the price is high.
Soccer will be on the regular board agenda Nov. 9. Nelson said the conversation is not about whether people want it. “I think everybody would like to see it happen,” she said. The questions are numbers, cost, and whether it can be sustained. She said there is probably enough strong interest for an initial start this spring, with more added next year if it goes well. The feeder program is stronger than when the district looked at soccer about eight years ag
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