Waverly-Shell Rock (WSR) has been voted out of the Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC).
During a meeting of the NEIC Executive Board of superintendents from the six-member conference schools Friday, a resolution to have WSR exit the league was passed for a second time by the required majority-plus-one vote of 5-to-1, with WSR casting the lone dissenting vote. The result was not surprising given recent developments, which included an initial 5-to-1 Executive Board vote on April 4, followed by the school boards of Charles City, New Hampton, Cresco-Crestwood, Decorah, and Waukon all voting within the last two weeks to have their respective superintendents vote the same way Friday.
New Hampton Superintendent Jay Jurrens introduced the measure at the previous Executive Board meeting in early April, noting that WSR has grown to be much larger than several other schools in the conference, in fact, about two-and-half times the size of New Hampton, which has created competitive imbalance.
Charles City Superintendent Mike Fisher says WSR’s size was also a hindrance to expansion of the NEIC. He says he’s talked with a handful of schools that might be interested in joining the NEIC, but only if the Go-Hawks were out of the conference.
Waverly-Shell Rock will exit the NEIC at the end of next school year on June 30, 2023.
