FREEMAN PUBLIC SENDS OUT SURVEY
The Freeman Public Schools is seeking public input on the issue of sports consolidation and school cooperation through a survey being distributed to district patrons this week. All residents living in the school district were mailed the survey on Monday, with instructions to either answer the printed questions and return them to one of four designated locations in Freeman, use the camera on their smart phone to active the survey through a QR code, or complete the survey by visiting a URL.
The survey asks four questions:
1. Would you like the Freeman Public School District to discuss potential sports cooperatives with area schools?
2. Would you support a sports cooperative that may lead into a school consolidation?
3. Would you like the Freeman Public School District to discuss potential school consolidation with area schools?
4. Would you support a sports co-op if it moved our sports teams up from Class B to Class A?
All answers are a simple “yes” or “no.”
Opinion: Take part in the survey; it’s too important not to
The survey is a byproduct of a task force established this summer by Freeman Public Superintendent Jake Tietje and board president Emily Andersen that includes Freeman Public staff, students and at-large constituents. It grows out of previous conversations about a partnership with neighboring districts — specifically, a three-school sports cooperative in most sports between Freeman Public, Freeman Academy and Marion with a look toward school consolidation with Marion in upcoming years.
At a joint meeting between all three school boards in April, a sports cooperative in all sports — with the exception of football — fell one vote short of passing; school boards from Freeman Academy and Marion both voted unanimously in favor of the partnership beginning in the fall of 2021 while Freeman Public voted against it 3-2.
At the conclusion of the meeting, all three boards indicated a desire to continue the conversation, with the possibility of having something in place by the fall of 2022.
