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 in 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 be 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]

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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. "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. 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. 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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