Western Dubuque Community School District

The Western Dubuque Community School District, (WDCSD; also known as Western Dubuque or WD) is a rural public school district based in Farley, Iowa (USA).[2] The district, which operates schools in western Dubuque County, is the largest school district (by area) in Iowa. As of the 2007-2008 school year, WD had 2,776 students enrolled in its schools.[3]

Western Dubuque Community School District
Location
Farley, Iowa
Dubuque, Delaware, Jones, Jackson, and Clayton counties

United States
Coordinates42.439578, -91.010584
District information
TypeLocal school district
GradesK-12
Established1886
SuperintendentRick Colpitts
Budget$44,867,000 (2015-16)
NCES District ID1931350[1]
Students and staff
Students3606 (2018-19)[1]
Teachers240.11 FTE [1]
Staff245.08 FTE [1]
Student–teacher ratio15.02 [1]
Athletic conferenceMississippi Valley
Other information
Websitewww.wdbqschools.org

History

The district was established in 1960.[4]

General information
Map showing the areas served by the Western Dubuque Community School District (red).

The Western Dubuque Community School District serves an area covering 550 square miles (1,400 km2), including 19 communities in five counties.[5] Its size is about half of that of Rhode Island.[6]

The district's territory includes all of the western half of Dubuque County, eastern parts of Delaware County, northeastern Jones County, northwestern Jackson County and extreme southeastern Clayton County. This area includes the towns of: Balltown, Bankston, Bernard, Cascade, Centralia, Dyersville, Epworth, Farley, Luxemburg, Holy Cross, New Vienna, Peosta, almost all of Rickardsville, and Worthington. All are completely or partially in Dubuque County.[7] It also serves the unincorporated areas of Fillmore,[8] Petersburg,[9] and Temple Hill.[8]

The district currently operates:

WD is governed by a five-member elected school board and is managed by an appointed Superintendent of Schools. The Superintendent of Schools is Rick Colpitts.

Enrollment
Enrollment history & projections for the Western Dubuque Community School District 2000-2011.

In September 2007, there were 2,776 K-12 students attending WD schools. 2,432 (87.6%) of those students lived in Dubuque County, 103 (3.7%) lived in Delaware County, 137 (4.9%) lived in Jones County, 97 (3.5%) lived in Jackson County, and 7 (.3%) lived in Clayton County. Of public school students living in Dubuque County, 18.6% attend WD schools.[10]

History

Recent developments

Recently, there has been some debate over whether or not the town of Dyersville, Iowa should remain a part of the Western Dubuque Community School District. Some residents of the town have publicly expressed feeling "neglected" or "ignored" by the WD school board. The debate seems to stem from the fact that Dyersville lacks a full K-5 elementary school, the elementary school was K-1. A new elementary school was built in Dyersville, opening in the fall of 2011. It is located near US Highway 20.

Schools

Elementary schools:

Secondary schools:

Former schools:

  • Bernard Elementary School
    • Located next to the Bernard Commercial Club Park,[16] on a 10-acre (4.0 ha) plot of land, Bernard Elementary opened in 1960 had its current building open in 1963, and received an addition in 1967.[11] Family sizes in the area decreased,[17] and as years passed the enrollment grew smaller and smaller.[18] By 2017 the school was sharing employees with Cascade Elementary, and was required to send students in kindergarten and the second grade to Cascade Elementary as the numbers of students from those grades were too small; Bernard Elementary had a total of 31 students. The district stated that the yearly cost of operating the school per student was $14,000. In February 2017 four members of the school board voted to close the school while Mark Knuth, the president of the school board, chose to abstain from voting.[11] Students were reassigned to Cascade Elementary.[19]

See also

References
  1. "Western Dubuque Comm School District". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  2. Home. Western Dubuque Community School District. Retrieved on July 24, 2018. "Address: 310 4th St. SW, PO Box 68 | Farley, IA 52046"
  3. "Iowa School District Enrollments 2006-2007". Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
  4. "History." Western Dubuque Community School District. Retrieved on July 24, 2018.
  5. "WD High School Information". Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  6. "Facts and Figures about Western Dubuque Community School District." Western Dubuque Community School District. February 6, 2012. Retrieved on July 25, 2018.
  7. "Western Dubuque." Iowa Department of Education. Retrieved on July 24, 2018.
  8. "Cascade Elementary." Western Dubuque Community School District. January 3, 2007. Retrieved on July 25, 2018.
  9. "Dyersville Elementary Boundary Change Map." Western Dubuque Community School District. Retrieved on July 24, 2018.
  10. "Iowa School District Enrollments 2007-2008: By County". Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
  11. Kruse, John (2017-02-13). "School board votes to close Bernard Elementary School". Telegraph Herald. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  12. "Cascade Elementary Boundary Map." Western Dubuque Community School District. Retrieved on July 24, 2018.
  13. "2017 Elementary Boundaries." Western Dubuque Community School District. Retrieved on July 24, 2018. Detail on Luxemburg, New Vienna, and Bankston, Detail on Dyersville and Petersburg, Detail on Balltown, Holy Cross, and Rickardsville, Detail on Peosta and Centralia
  14. "Drexler Elementary." Western Dubuque Community School District. January 3, 2007. Retrieved on July 25, 2018.
  15. "Overview". Dyersville Elementary School. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  16. "Bernard Elementary School." Western Dubuque Community School District. Retrieved on July 25, 2018.
  17. Reed, Phil (2017-02-13). "Western Dubuque school board decides to close Bernard Elementary". KCRG. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  18. Wiedemann, Katie (2017-06-01). "Students at Bernard Elementary say final goodbye". KCRG. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  19. "Two eastern Iowa elementary schools closing". KCRG-TV. 2017-02-13. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
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