IVANHOE — The Ivanhoe School District has begun exploring early conversations regarding a possible future consolidation due to enrollment challenges. There are currently no official decisions put in place.

Ivanhoe currently houses Lincoln Elementary, pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, and superintendent Loy Woelber detailed that a consolidation is a possibility due to enrollment declines the district has been facing.

“When you start to get down to 9, 10, 11 (students) in a class, then it becomes a lot tougher,” Woelber said. “Then, to keep it one teacher per grade, which we’ve had a priority to do because it’s all about the kids and we want them to not be combined grades, (it’s hard). It’s just, we need kids to operate.”

Woelber said Ivanhoe has about 65 total students this school year.

If a consolidation takes place, it’s likely that Ivanhoe will officially combine with the Minneota School District, who already partner with one another in a tuition agreement.

“That’s (to Minneota) where our high school kids are. Minneota is a good school. The kids grow up, we have lots of little Rebels in that building with their red on, and they have lots of little mini and older Vikings, because their (Ivanhoe’s) older siblings are there. That becomes a natural transition for the kids … We have an excellent relationship with Minneota.”

Woelber noted that with Ivanhoe’s older students attending Minneota, there’s common situations where families will, or want to, move their younger child to Minneota, so siblings stay together in the same school. Woelber is also superintendent of Lake Benton and Westbrook-Walnut Grove, and mentioned that similarly, Lake Benton has a tuition agreement with Elkton, South Dakota, and said he’s seen that happen with younger and older siblings there as well.

Woelber said, while Ivanhoe is in the early processes of exploring a potential consolidlation, there have not been any conversations with other districts besides Minneota.

“(It’s like) we had our blind date or our first dance, and do we want to date or not? We (Ivanhoe and Minneota) are dating because we’re in a tuition agreement, and all the board members of Ivanhoe all have kids in Minneota,” Woelber said. “We have a great, amazing relationship. (Minneota) Superintendent (Scott) Monson and I worked together for 25 years now, it’s just that’s where the next phase comes in.”

Minneota and Ivanhoe had a joint school board work session on Dec. 10 where they discussed what a consolidation between the two would look like regarding finances, facilities and buildings, and timelines, according to the work session minutes. No formal decisions were made at the meeting.

Ivanhoe will also need to work out a plan for its school building if a consolidation takes place, which is currently on an active bonding bill.

“Ivanhoe (years ago), passed a bond to do a complete facelift and remodel on the school. There’s still nine years left on that bond … That’s how people look at it, too. Number one is the kids. But, number two, you have this amazing building, as good as they come, as far as new windows and all that stuff, sitting in a town of 600 people. How can we make the best use of it?’ Woelber said. “That’s what a lot of the conversation is. We have our two boards. Ivanhoe and Minneota got together, we had a meeting … We’re not that far [into discussions].”

With a consolidation possibility, Woelber noted that there’s always mixed emotions that come with a school closure.

“The hard part is that the kids are still getting a great education, but we can’t afford it. So, therefore we have to look for some other options,” Woelber said. “It’s not about the quality of education, because we have the great teachers and they have all kinds of space … We still have a wonderful music program and things like that, but there’s just not enough kids to generate the money.”

Similarly, the Milroy School District, which also currently serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade with seventh to 12th grade attending other districts, will be closing their doors at the end of this school year and officially consolidating with Tracy Area Public Schools in July. Milroy’s consolidation is also a result of declined enrollment, along with building maintenance.

Woelber reiterated that everything regarding an Ivanhoe consolidation is in the early stages, with no official decisions and deadlines set in place.

“I just want what’s best for these kids, of course, and the community,” Woelber said. “Ivanhoe is not ready to just throw in the towel and give up. But, we want to make sure we have a good, solid future for the kids.”