(Cylinder)– The Iowa Department of Education has approved the merger of two northwest Iowa area education agencies.
A-E-A areas three and five will officially become one July 1st, 2003. Prior to that, they’ll share the services of chief administrator William Garner and Business Manager Steve Beeghley starting this coming July 1st.
The reorganization has been in the works since August of last year when AEA three administrator Albert Wood and AEA three business manager Donna Johnson announced they would retire in July, 2002.
Officials with both AEA’s three and five say the merger makes sense in light of further budget cuts and declining enrollments. The two have already been sharing some programs. The decision to go ahead with the full-fledged merger was based on a feasibility study conducted by a consultant.
The two boards approved the merger at respective meetings last month.
The state’s approval has resulted in an initial board being put together consisting of six members from region five and three from AEA region three. The region three representatives include Chuck Skogerboe of Orleans, Dean Saunders of Spencer and Richard McKean of Armstrong.
