New Hampton will not be joining the Upper Iowa Conference (UIC), not at this time anyway.
New Hampton, Waukon and Cresco-Crestwood from the Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) have been invited to join the UIC starting with the 2023-24 school year. During their regular monthly meeting Monday night, the New Hampton School Board voted to decline the UIC’s invitation, at least for one year.Â
In rejecting the invite, the Board discussed staying in a “holding pattern” to see how the possible expansion of the NEIC plays out. After voting Waverly-Shell Rock out of league, the remaining five NEIC schools invited five others to join, but thus far, none of the invitees, Osage, North Fayette Valley, MFL Mar-Mac, Oelwein, nor Sumner-Fredericksburg, have accepted.
New Hampton Superintendent Jay Jurrens, also the shared superintendent with the UIC’s Turkey Valley, says schools invited to join the NEIC or UIC have been hesitant to make a move.
Jurrens says another layer to the direction of the NEIC is that Charles City, Cresco-Crestwood and Decorah will each have either new or interim superintendents for the 2022-23 school year. NEIC superintendents are expected to continue discussing the expansion when they meet Wednesday.
