Hedrick Community School Dist. v. Southern Prairie Area Educ. Agency 15, 87-1296

• Decision Date: 21 December 1988
• Docket Number: No. 87-1296,87-1296
• Citation: 433 N.W.2d 746
• Parties: 51 Ed. Law Rep. 245 The HEDRICK COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellant, v. SOUTHERN PRAIRIE AREA EDUCATION AGENCY 15, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 746

433 N.W.2d 746

51 Ed. Law Rep. 245

The HEDRICK COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellant, v. SOUTHERN PRAIRIE AREA EDUCATION AGENCY 15, Appellee.

No. 87-1296.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Dec. 21, 1988.

Kenneth L. Keith and Lloyd E. Keith of Keith & Orsborn, Ottumwa, for appellant.

Richard J. Gaumer of Webber, Gaumer, Emanuel & Daily, P.C., Ottumwa, for appellee.

Considered by McGIVERIN, C.J., and CARTER, LAVORATO, SNELL, and ANDREASEN, JJ.

LAVORATO, Justice.

The dispute in this case involves the approval of a school district reorganization petition by the defendant, the Southern Prairie Area Education Agency. The plaintiff, the Hedrick Community School District, contends that the agency failed to substantially comply with the statutory requirements for such approval and that the petition, therefore, should not be submitted to the voters. The district court disagreed, and we affirm its decision.

I. Facts and Background Proceedings.

School district reorganization is regulated by Iowa Code chapter 275. The declared policy of the chapter is to "encourage economical and efficient school districts which will ensure an equal educational opportunity to all children of the state." Iowa Code § 275.1 (1985).

Beginning on July 1, 1975, area education agencies replaced county school boards. 1974 Iowa Acts ch. 1172, § 9. The agencies assumed the county school boards' responsibilities for planning the reorganizations of school districts. Id. at § 40.

The boundaries of the agencies' jurisdictions were originally made coterminous with those of area vocational schools and community colleges. See id. at § 3; Iowa Code ch. 280A (1975). In 1982 fifteen agencies were established throughout the state. 1982 Iowa Acts ch. 1136, § 1. The 1982 legislation mandated that an agency's boundaries could not divide a school district. Id. If such division happens because of the merger of a local school district and the corresponding change in the district's boundaries, then the agency's boundaries must be changed to accommodate the merger and prevent the division. Id.

As part of their responsibilities, the county boards of education had been required to have on file with the state department of public instruction reorganization plans for their school districts. See Iowa Code §§ 275.1-275.5 (1973). The area education agencies were likewise required to have such plans on file with the department. See 1974 Iowa Acts ch. 1172, §§ 40-42 (codified as Iowa Code §§ 275.1-275.5 (1975)). According to a 1975 attorney general's opinion, the counties' plans were to be turned over to the area education agencies. The plans were considered to have "continual binding effect" until the agencies, pursuant to section 275.1, initiated their own studies and surveys for school reorganizations in their areas. 1976 Op. Iowa Att'y Gen. 78, 78-79.

When the agencies were organized, it was determined that in a number of cases no such plans existed. To remedy this deficiency, the department of public instruction, in 1980, ordered the agencies to prepare and file reorganization plans.

In 1980 four statutes governed the procedure for the development of school reorganization plans. Section 275.1 (1979) directed the boards of the area education agencies to develop "detailed studies and surveys of the school districts within the area education agency and all adjacent territory." The avowed purpose for the studies and surveys was to "provid[e] for reorganization of school districts in order to effect more economical operation and the attainment of higher standards of education in the schools." Iowa Code § 275.1 (1979).

Section 275.2 (1979) determined the scope of the studies and surveys referred to in section 275.1. The studies and surveys were to include the following information regarding the various districts in the area and all districts adjacent to it:

The adequacy of the educational program, average daily attendance of pupils, property valuations, existing buildings and equipment, natural community areas, road conditions, transportation, economic factors, individual attention given to the needs of students, the opportunity of students to participate in a wide variety of activities related to the total development of the student, and such other matters that may bear on educational programs meeting minimum standards required by law.

Iowa Code § 275.2 (1979).

According to section 275.3 (1979), no new school district could be planned by an agency board unless 300 children of school age resided in the proposed district. Exceptions were permitted under limited circumstances. See Iowa Code § 275.3 (1979).

In developing the studies and surveys mandated by section 275.1 the agency board was required by section 275.4 (1979) to consult with officials of the affected district, the superintendent of public instruction, and other citizens. Additionally, section 275.4 directed the superintendent to provide assistance to the board as requested. Once the plan was completed, the board was required to file it with the superintendent of public instruction. Iowa Code § 275.4 (1979).

With that background of statutory requirements Southern Prairie, in 1980, set about to develop the statutorily mandated reorganization plan. The agency hired a school reorganization expert, J. David Rossi, to conduct the statutorily required studies and surveys.

Rossi spent the better part of a year visiting every school district in the Southern Prairie area. During those visits, he set up committees of parents, students, agency board members, and other citizens to study concerns in each of their school districts and to express their preferences for the future development of their districts. As part of his work Rossi collected information about each district that was geared to the factors listed in section 275.2. This information was put in the form of a report and has come to be known as the "Rossi report."

One of the many things discussed by the various committees was the changing of district boundary lines. The various committees expressed little interest in changing these boundaries. Discussions focused more on course offerings, particularly in the area of vocational education.

Consequently, the Rossi report did not call for any change of district boundaries. It did, however, call for a large number of shared classes in and among the various school districts within the area. In September 1980 the Rossi report was adopted by the Southern Prairie board as its plan of reorganization and filed as such with the superintendent of public instruction. See Iowa Code § 275.4 (1979).

In 1984 there was a significant change in school reorganization law. The legislature amended Iowa Code section 275.2 by adding the following: "The plans shall also include suggested alternate plans that incorporate the school districts in the area education agency into reorganized districts that meet the enrollment standards specified in section 275.3...." 1984 Iowa Acts ch. 1078, § 2. Less significantly, the new legislation also required studies and surveys to include information on pupil enrollment. "Pupil enrollment" was substituted for "average daily attendance of pupils" specified under the old version of section 275.2. Id.

The statutory enrollment standards required each school district to have an enrollment of at least 300 students. See Iowa Code § 275.3 (1985). The new amendment required the development of alternative plans for reorganizing school districts that failed to meet the 300-student enrollment standard.

At the time of the 1984 legislation, seven districts within the Southern Prairie area had enrollments below or close to 300 students. These districts were Blakesburg, Fox Valley, Fremont, Hedrick, Lineville-Clio, Moulton-Udell, and Russell.

Because the then-current plan, the Rossi report, did not include an alternative plan for the reorganization of districts with enrollments below 300, Southern Prairie began the process of developing such a plan in September 1985. It first notified all school district superintendents in its area of the changes brought about by the 1984 legislation. It then invited the superintendents to an informational meeting to be held in October.

All of the superintendents attended the October meeting. Following Southern Prairie's suggestion, most brought school district board members with them. Others in attendance included three Southern Prairie board members; Donald G. Roseberry, Chief Administrator for Southern Prairie; Roseberry's secretary; and Guy Ghan, from the state department of public instruction.

At the meeting Southern Prairie reviewed the 1984 legislation and discussed what it intended to do regarding the alternative plan. Ghan explained the department's role and what procedure would be used in developing the alternative plan. Roseberry told the seven districts affected by the new legislation that he wanted their involvement and suggestions in developing the plan. In addition, Roseberry told the districts that Southern Prairie would hold hearings in their districts if they so desired and suggested that they poll their districts for suggestions as to what the plan should contain.

Shortly thereafter, the department sent Southern Prairie guidelines about how to develop the plan. Those guidelines required consideration of all factors listed in section 275.2. Information regarding those factors had already been forwarded to the department by the local districts in their annual reports to the department. At the request of Southern Prairie, this information was compiled by the department and made available to the agency. Southern Prairie tabulated the information and put it into the form needed for the plan. Southern Prairie obtained other information by calling the district superintendents.

Adjacent area education agencies were contacted to determine whether such agencies intended to include in their reorganization plans any school districts located in the...