Superintendent Jay Mathis

REINBECK – Eldora-New Providence Superintendent Jay Mathis will soon have an additional office to report to … in Reinbeck. Earlier this year, both the Gladbrook-Reinbeck and Eldora-New Providence school boards approved a sharing agreement, wherein Mathis will serve as both districts’ superintendent. He begins his additional duties July 1. Current G-R Superintendent Shawn Holloway is leaving G-R after accepting the superintendent position in the Panorama Community School District earlier this year. G-R School Board President Joshua Hemann said the board looked to surrounding districts to fill the G-R superintendent opening. “We decided to speak with districts that were not directly touching us to see if that was a possibility,” he said. Hemann said of those that were contacted, ENP administrators expressed interest. Sharing superintendents has financial benefits, said Holloway. “The state of Iowa provides an operational incentive,” he said. That incentive provides state dollars for eight additional students. Each school district could expect to receive about $6,400 for each of those students, Holloway said. On top of the additional state dollars, Mathis’ contract is paid for by the G-R and ENP districts, he said. G-R will pay 40 percent, and ENP, 60 percent. Superintendent sharing with ENP – a school district that does not border G-R – also obviates potential concerns that the sharing agreement is a prelude to district consolidation, noted Hemann. “With everything else that is going on in the G-R district, it doesn’t create any additional issues for us or additional concerns,” he said. “We have other things that are on our radar.” Mathis’ time is also to be split between G-R and ENP. He plans to spend two days a week in Reinbeck and three in Eldora, working out of each district’s office. That will vary depending on the dates of school board meetings and district needs, said Mathis. “I’ll be answering emails and phone calls for both districts regardless of where I’m at,” he said. Mathis noted working with two medium-size school districts like ENP and G-R is comparable to the job of a superintendent who serves one large district. Hemann said another administrative change that comes with superintendent sharing is the delegation of elementary school principal responsibilities to a different staff person. Holloway serves as the elementary school principal on top of being superintendent. Jason Strub, G-R drop out prevention coordinator, is to take on that role, said Hemann. Reflecting on his time serving as G-R superintendent, Holloway said he is proud of working with the school board to reduce district expenditures. “The board and myself had to make some very difficult decisions,” he said. “Those decisions will give the district the ability to be a viable district for the considerable future.”