Recently, we’ve read in the Times, and the Herald before that, how the How Winn School Board is exploring cooperating with neighboring school districts as a means of providing desired or required services at reduced cost.
Today’s The Gazette, the daily paper here in Cedar Rapids, has an interesting article on cooperation. The cooperation between two very rival towns, Dallas and Melcher, began years ago when their two schools combined. A few decades later, the two small towns combined to form a new town, Melcher-Dallas. Here’s the article: http://thegazette.com.
By cooperating, citizens of both towns still have a “home town,” which would have been unlikely had they not combined.
Rural Iowa Declining in Population
The same article shows that Howard county declined about 50% in population over the last 100 years or so. When one drives through the countryside and takes notice of the farmsteads which aren’t there today, one can believe such figures. I know the house on the farm on which the Win Sanborn and John Voves families lived has been gone for years, and the rest of the buildings, too, I believe.
I’m pretty sure the same is true for the Dan Ries farm, and “the Maronde farm,” where Stegan and Ramaker families lived.
And these are just farms in the Foreston neighborhood, which is a very tiny part of Howard County.
Times have changed. The number of citizens to support needed services such as schools, fire departments, county offices, etc., has decreased while costs have generally increased. Plus, it’s possible that citizens are expecting more from public service providers than ever before.
Schools are a prime example of this!! We all want the best for our young people. That includes athletics, band, the latest in computers, and neat electronic devices to aid teaching and learning. A hundred years ago, a slate (no paper wasted!), a few books, and a good teacher did the job. Not today!
Cooperation: Start with the Small Stuff
I mention these things not to even suggest that Lime Springs combine with another town but to point out that expanded cooperation between communities or organizations may indeed be beneficial to all concerned.
Start with the easy, uncontroversial parts. I think the school board did just that: the first step is to have identical schedules among neighboring schools next year. Each small successful cooperation will encourage a larger cooperation and give residents a comfortable feeling that the world will not end just because they perceive their party is “giving up” something as part of the cooperation.
The following words are pretty strong and probably not exactly true. But they should get your attention:
We (Lime Springs, Chester, even Cresco, and Howard County)
are in an economic survival mode.
If one can accept that as an operating premise, it should be pretty easy to find ways to cooperate for mutual benefits.