McLeod West partners with GFW to teach grades 9-12

The McLeod West School District will continue teaching grades K-8 at its Brownton campus, while sending students in grades 9-12 to the Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop district.

The School Board decided Wednesday (Aug. 20) to expand its existing tuitioning agreement with GFW, because the current portion of the Brownton campus used for grades 9-12 has been deemed unsafe.

For the 2008-09 school year, students in grades 9-12 will go to GFW for their morning classes and lunch, returning to Brownton for classes including science and English.

The students will retain eligibility to participate in Minnesota State High School League activities including sports, speech and drama.

Superintendent Tony Boyer said co-curricular activities, such as prom, will still take place in Brownton. Students will graduate as McLeod West Falcons at the Brownton campus.

Future plans
What happens after the ’08-’09 school year is not yet certain. “If our public would support this school — even where we are now — we could make a very nice K-8 academic setting,” Boyer said.

The School Board hopes voters will show their support in November, and declared its intent to run an operating levy then. Boyer believes the fate of the McLeod West district rests largely on the will of residents to keep it alive.

“This isn’t a doomsday prophecy,” he said. “This is a challenge. Challenges can be overcome, if the people want it.”

For more on this story, see the Leader’s Aug. 26 print edition.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)