(4-27-26) Decorah is finding help via the State of Iowa Realignment Committee that was recently created by the state legislation to help schools with conference membership issues.

The Decorah Community School District Board of Directors approved a formal application to the Iowa Conference Realignment Committee in March, requesting the formation of a new high school athletic conference.

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The Conference Realignment Committee met on March 25th to discuss Decorah’s application and identify conferences for possible placement. The committee also discussed whether new legislation passed last year afforded the committee the power to create a new conference.

Committee Chair Marty Fonley (West Harrison, West Monona, Whiting) said she reached out to state officials forlarification, with feedback indicating the intent of the legislation was to place schools in conferences, that the committee could recommend to the legislature suggestions for a better way to organize conferences, and the committee could recommend creation of new conferences, but not force schools into them.

The committee said that they will consider the North Central Conference, Upper Iowa Conference, Top of Iowa Conference, and the WaMaC for Decorah membership.

Adam Riley, Decorah’s Activities Director, is a member of the committee.

The next committee hearing is scheduled for April 29th at the IHSAA in Boone for a decision for schools applying through the modified process. Schools and conferences that could be affected will be contacted by the committee prior to the meeting.

The Conference Realignment Committee, established by HF783 ahead of the 2025-26 school year, began meeting in Jan. 2026.

The committee is operating in combination with IHSAA and IGHSAU, with its own established bylaws, application procedures, and timelines for multiple circumstances. Committee members are active superintendents and activities directors from member schools.

This page is intended to provide a hub for member schools to access committee minutes, timelines, application procedures and other documents related to the work of the committee.

Decorah News- Decorah School Board Approves Application to Iowa Conference Realignment Committee

Application to the Iowa Conference Realignment Committee —to view the online application

Members,

The Decorah Community School District is requesting the consideration of the newly created Conference Realignment Committee for placement in a conference for the 2027-2028 school year.  The committee’s willingness to consider the subsequent application is greatly appreciated as it takes on this new endeavor.  

In January and February of 2024, three (Crestwood, New Hampton, Waukon) of the five remaining members of the Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) sought and/or were invited to join the Upper Iowa Conference (UIC), leaving the two remaining NEIC schools (Charles City and Decorah) without enough schools for viable scheduling of activities.  Charles City subsequently requested and was given modified membership to the North Central Conference.  

Below is a timeline of subsequent actions and events related to Decorah’s efforts to join a conference.

  • February through April of 2024 – Decorah requested and was formally denied membership into the UIC after multiple requests for a meeting with conference representatives were denied.  
  • Request Letter Link and UIC Denial Letter Link
  • April of 2024 – Osage sent a request to the remaining NEIC schools to meet and discuss possible membership in the NEIC.  The meeting request was denied by the superintendents of Crestwood, New Hampton, and Waukon.  
  • Osage NEIC Meeting Request Link
  • July of 2024 – Decorah and UIC have a mediation hearing, and no agreement is reached. Directors of IHSAA and IGHSAU deny Decorah’s request to join the UIC.  
  • Decorah – UIC Mediation Decision Link
  • August of 2024 – Decorah has discussions with the WaMac Conference to gauge interest in Decorah as a potential member school.  Decorah is notified that admission to the WaMac Conference would be denied.
  • WaMac Denial Letter Link

As a result of recent decisions through the Chapter 37 mediation process that left Decorah and other districts without a conference, the district advocated for changes to Chapter 37 and/or updated legislative support to update the current conference alignment system.  Considering Decorah never chose to leave their conference, and attempts to mediate and negotiate membership into potential conferences led the school not to be placed in a conference, efforts to update the system seemed appropriate for a productive long-term solution.  

As the Decorah Community School District has continued to explore different options for our students to compete while meeting the educational needs of our students and the expectations of our community, this request is for the formation of a new conference in the northeast region of our state.  The proposed new conference would be made up of seven area schools: Charles City, Crestwood, Decorah, New Hampton, North Fayette Valley, Osage, and Waukon.  The basis for this proposal is to create a solution that presents the best viable option for conference alignment in the area, while maintaining stability in existing conferences across the state of Iowa.  

Key points to consider include:

  • The Upper Iowa Conference would lose four schools but would still have eight schools remaining within appropriate enrollment and travel distance.  Currently, the Upper Iowa Conference operates on a schedule with two divisions based on school size: a larger-school division and a smaller-school division. 
  • The inclusion of Charles City and Osage would cause minimal disruption to the scheduling of the North Central Conference and the Top of Iowa Conference as each conference would lose only one school.  The NCC would still operate with eleven schools while the TIC would have thirteen schools.  
  • Future enrollment data shows a reasonable deviation in school size, while acknowledging the educational and budgetary needs of all students and districts to offer appropriate extracurricular and co-curricular opportunities. 
  • Traditional competitive rivalries would be maintained in many sports to create relevant and appropriate competitions for students, families, and communities.  Five of the seven schools have been NEIC schools for over 50 years, once the oldest conference in the state of Iowa. 
  • A new league with seven schools would still allow for reasonable scheduling of appropriate competitions outside the conference schedule to adapt to teams’ changing competitive needs.  

The Decorah Community School District fully acknowledges, in requesting the creation of a new conference, that it would be the largest school within the conference.  Like many schools, we would ask the committee to note the forecasted decline in district enrollment, making this proposal even more feasible than it was when mediation occurred in 2024.  The data presented in this application shows data from three different options the district considered as it weighs the balance of appropriate travel for activities with school enrollment in Northeast Iowa.  

The proposal for a new conference would provide appropriate opportunities for all schools, including opportunities for involvement in multiple sports and fine arts at both varsity and lower levels.  Most importantly, the proposed conference alignment advocates for the educational needs of our students, ensuring they do not have to travel unreasonable distances, while also creating competitive opportunities that would benefit all schools in the conference as they prepare for postseason events.  

The Decorah Community School District greatly appreciates the time and consideration of the new Conference Realignment Committee members as they tackle this endeavor, and hopes that the materials provided clearly present objective data to support an informed decision.  While any decision will meet a variety of opinions, we hope a resolution can be proposed that prioritizes a balance of the educational needs of all students involved.  

Enrollment Data

Below is information on past, current, and projected future enrollment using predicted BEDS numbers from the 25-26 Iowa Department of Education Fall Enrollment.  After years of relatively stable enrollment numbers, Decorah’s enrollment is projected to experience some of the sharpest declines in school history.  As shown in the table below, BEDS enrollment for Decorah CSD is projected to decline sharply, resulting in an average of 372 for Decorah over the next three years.  

Summary of Travel Distance and Time from Decorah

All data listed below highlights the one way travel distance and time from Decorah to conference schools within our geographic area.  The impact on extended travel time is nearly three times the distance traveled one way in the WaMac Conference compared to the new proposal and the UIC.  The listed one way travel does not account for distance and time for return trips as well.  An average time on road for student-athletes of 260 minutes or four hours and twenty minutes has extreme negative impacts on student athletes educational and physical well-being, in addition to coaches with primary job responsibilities outside of the sport as well district budgets for all member schools.  

Decorah High School Programming/Participation – Summary

Decorah’s current status as an independent, without any conference affiliation, has created significant challenges for our students, coaches, teachers, and families due to increased travel, particularly in volleyball, basketball, wrestling, softball, and baseball.  Inconsistent scheduling of competitions, along with increased travel, has greatly disrupted instructional flow in the classroom and in individual activities. Students participating in activities and especially multiple activities are missing substantially more instructional time due to increased travel. All sports have lacked home competitions, negatively impacting both the activities budget and general fund dollars due to increased transportation costs.  

Additionally, cross country and track have been unable to compete in any events during the week prior to state qualifying meets, creating a competitive disadvantage for students and coaches in providing relevant competition as they prepare for the most important meet of the season.  

Lastly, our coaching staff across all activities has expressed great concern about balancing their daily instructional and workplace responsibilities due to the increased travel associated with not being placed in a conference. Both on-staff and off-staff coaches have been forced to miss more classroom instructional time or take additional time off from work to accommodate individuals with non-school-district jobs.  

The data below show a tradition of high participation numbers in the vast programming that Decorah High School has traditionally offered.  With 24 sports and over 11 co-curricular offerings, nearly 100% of students participate in at least one activity each year.  Despite a gradual decline in enrollment over the past five years, participation numbers in all activities have remained at a sustainable level, enabling appropriate scheduling at lower levels for age-appropriate development in competition across all activities.  

Concerns exist in community survey data as well, with staff noting the impact on participation if travel distances consistently exceed two hours, and students choosing to prioritize academic needs over multi-activity participation.

Additional Documentation

Below is the additional relevant documentation to be included in the application.  

School Board Minutes

Coaches Survey Data – March 11, 2026

  • Below is a link to the survey data sent to head coaches in 15 of the sport programs most directly impacted by the conference alignment.  This is the result of a coaches’ meeting, including head and assistant coaches of all affected programs, on March 10, 2026.  After a facilitated discussion, fourteen of the fifteen coaches were able to complete the survey, with all programs agreeing that their number one preference was to request formation of a new conference to the CRC.  
  • The active link is below with an image to view survey responses.  

Community Survey Data – January 2024

  • In January of 2024, 835 community stakeholders responded to a survey related to Decorah’s potential future conference alignment requests.  Respondents were asked to prioritize their most important concerns related to the impacts a new conference would have.  
  • Nearly 75% of respondents listed their 1st or 2nd priority as the average distance to conference members, including missed instructional time for students and the ability for parents and community members to attend games.  
  • The active link is below with an image to view survey responses.