Harper’s shared position brings positive benefits to Sigourney, Pekin

Dave Harper is a familiar face to both Sigourney and Pekin School districts. In his current position as Superintendent, Harper has been with Sigourney for 2 years now. Previously, Harper has also been a principal at Pekin. Now, he will balance two schools on his shoulders as the share Superintendent of Sigourney and Pekin Schools.

 Both districts are also familiar with sharing superintendents; Pekin having recently shared with Tri County and Sigourney previously sharing with Keota and also Tri County in the past. In fact, Pekin and Sigourney are part of 84 (out of 336) schools in the state that are sharing their Superintendent. 196 schools in Iowa share positions, including Superintendent, Business Manager, Human Resource positions and Transportation Director.

“School districts are looking for ways to save or generate income, and sharing a superintendent is a way to do so,” Harper said. “To simply put, sharing allows for enough funds for eight students, which is roughly about $50,000.”

9 out of 12 of the Southern Iowa Cedar League schools also share a superintendent, as well as other positions. Sharing allows for schools to split the salary of a position. In Harper’s contract, a 50/50 split between the two schools on his $120,000 salary saves each district $27,000 to spend on other necessities.

“Enrollment in Sigourney has stayed about the same the last few years, so sharing allows us to make the most of our money” Harper said. “Staff-wise, we are bare bonded. With these savings, we don’t have to reduce our staff or programs.”

Over the next two years, Pekin and Sigourney will hold individual board meetings, as well as joint meetings in March 2017, November 2017 and March 2018. Harper’s agreement is on a year-to-year basis. Though working for both schools full-time is a challenge Harper admits, he wants to put his best effort into this position for the districts.

“I want to get in [Pekin], know their goals, and keep everything moving forward,” Harper said. “I’ve attended several meetings since February, and I feel very confident about us working together. My family has been very supportive of this decision, and they are support I need myself.”

Pekin and Sigourney will both begin the 2016-2017 school year on August 24.

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