The AGWSR School District is moving closer to a conference change after the school board considered an invitation from the Iowa Star Conference during its regular meeting January 12th. The invitation comes as the Iowa Star looks to rebalance its North and South divisions, with recent approval of Nashua-Plainfield and North Butler joining the North Division beginning in the 2027–28 school year.
Superintendent Ben Petty says the Iowa Star extended invitations to four schools—AGWSR, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, East Marshall, and Belle Plaine—based on geography and enrollment size.
“One of the bigger issues that the board looked at had to do with enrollment, because when you look at BEDS enrollment, which is your grades 9 through 11 and how athletics are classified, we looked at the entire NICL and the Iowa Star and you know, out of the 15 schools in the NICL, AGWSR is now the second smallest, when it comes to the those enrollment numbers and actually has the second largest free and reduced percentage number. So and that does play a role sometimes as far as, resources and participation of students at a younger age and so just kind of as a whole, when it came to enrollment and competitive fit, the board thought that a move to the Iowa Star would be in the best interests long term.”
During the meeting, AGWSR’s high school and junior high activities directors were present, and the board voted to accept the invitation to join the Iowa Star starting in 2027.
Petty says transportation distances were also discussed, with comparisons showing similar travel demands between the North Iowa Cedar League and the Iowa Star.
“When you’re only looking at the NICL West schools, that’s going to mean less transportation when compared to the Iowa Star South. But very often they’re playing all of the schools in the NICL. I think for basketball, they’re not even doing divisions now. And so when we looked at distances throughout the entire NICL and then throughout the entire Iowa Star, it’s pretty similar when it comes to transportation and distances.”
Final approval will require a two-thirds vote by Iowa Star superintendents, though Petty says the group has already signaled support for the move.
Full interview below
