Mid-Prairie's response to Camanche's CVC request

The following is a letter from Mid-Prairie schools to Dwight Carlson (Iowa Department of Education), Mike Dick (IGHSAU) and David Anderson (IHSAA) concerning Camanche's petition to be placed in the Cedar Valley Conference. It is dated Dec. 14, 2011.

Thank you for your mediation efforts held at Monticello concerning Camanche's request to join the Cedar Valley Conference (CVC).  It went as well as can be expected considering the large number in attendance.

We want to affirm, in the strongest terms possible, Mid-Prairie School District's opposition to this possible change.  This opposition is based not only on our professional opinions, but is also the consensus of the Mid-Prairie School Board who discussed the issue at a board meeting prior to the mediation.

We hold no ill feeling toward the Camanche community and the individuals who work within its school district.   As explained in their application letter, we believe their competition concerns in sub-varsity activities are earnest.  However, we can't in good conscience place Camanche's athletic concerns ahead of student academic needs.

The Mid-Prairie community values high academic achievement.   Indicators of this include the following:

1) All senior high students are required to take two Advanced Placement Classes, gain six hours of dual college credit, or complete two 90-hour job internships for graduation.

2) All kindergarten through fifth grade students receive 60 minutes of Spanish and 60 minutes of Chinese instruction every week.

3) Our high school consistently ranks in the University of Iowa's Belin and Blank Center's top ten of Iowa high schools.

4) Newsweek and the U.S. and World News Report have both recognized our senior high school as being among the nation's best.

5) The district is a two-time recipient of the First in the Nation in Education Award.

6) A Renaissance Awards program exists that recognizes students for their academic performance.

7) The Mid-Prairie School Board received the IASB “Making a Difference” Award.

By admitting Camanche into the CVC, Mid-Prairie students will travel by bus four hours every time a varsity, junior varsity, freshman/sophomore, or junior high competition is played in their school district.  Considering the fact that Mid-Prairie's geographic area is 215 square miles, after arriving back at Mid-Prairie, some of our students will still need to travel a considerable time, making the total trip home for them between two and three hours.

This extended travel time will affect our students academically in the following ways:

1) Students would need to leave early for Camanche missing a significant portion of the school day.  Depending on the level, some students would need to leave school even before the legal Iowa standard for length of school day is reached.

2) Students would find it difficult to complete schoolwork after arriving home from competitions.  Common sense dictates that most high school students are not going to start studying or working on school projects/assignments after returning home past midnight.  The few that do will not be able to give it their best effort.

3) Coaches who are teachers would need to leave for competitions in the early afternoon.  This would affect all students.  Substitute teachers would replace the teacher-coaches.  While Mid-Prairie has many competent substitute teachers, they are not the “A” team.  Students in our classrooms deserve the “A” team.

We are not trying to minimize Camanche's concerns, however, other solutions exist to address their sub-varsity issues other than to impede our students' future academic achievements.

The issue is simple -- what's most important -- one school's athletic concerns or another's academic concerns?  What should be most important in this state, athletics or academics?

To our community and us, it's not even close.  It's academics.

Yours in service,

Steve Hollan, Activities Director

Gerry Beeler, High School Principal

Mark Schneider, Superintendent