May 5, 1982. Maxwell and Collins. Informative meetings were held in both Maxwell and Collins Tuesday night concerning the merger election that will take place next Tuesday, May 11.
The Maxwell meeting started at 7:30 p.m, and lasted about an hour. Around 30 people were present in addition to the school board. Board president Joanne Longnecker conducted the meeting. Supt. Patrick Sullivan summarized the Dept. of Pub. Instruction report showing the feasibility of merging the two districts, noting that the boards plan to have grades K-4 and 9-12 in Maxwell and grades 5-8 in Collins if the merger is approved. Sullivan said the Maxwell district is not in a bad financial shape now, but may be in a few years if the merger does not go through.
The Collins meeting began at 8:00 p.m. (previous article indicated 7:00 p.m.) and lasted about half an hour with some 25 people present in addition to the board.
Points mentioned in a previous report, such as decisions on mascot and colors, class arrangements, etc., were reviewed. It was noted that each town will provide two shuttle busses. Approximately the same number of students from each town would be transported to the other under their proposed arrangement. 109 would go from Collins to Maxwell and 108 from Maxwell to Collins.
It was announced that if the merger takes place, the merged district will be governed by a ten-member board until September 1984, then a newly elected five-member board would take over. The ten-member board would assume power in July 1983.
May 7, 1982. Week of May 10. Hot Lunch Menus: Mon. Soup, toasted cheese sandwich, dessert, milk. Tues. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, butter, peas, peanut butter sandwich, dessert, milk. Wed. Lasagna,French bread, salad, orange whip, milk. Thurs. Baked turkey, dressing, vegetable, dessert, milk. Fri. Beef burgers, vegetable, dessert, milk.
May 10, 1982. Voting on the issue of consolidation of Collins-Maxwell two school districts will begin at 12:00 noon on Tuesday and continue until 8:00 p.m. Residents of the Collins and Maxwell school districts who are registered to vote should do so at the Maxwell and Collins City halls.
May 11, 1982. Commencement ceremonies at Collins Community high school will be held Monday, May 17, at 8:00 p.m. Program for the evening includes: Prelude - Chris Huntrods, Processional - Chris Huntrods, Invocation - Rev. Nancy Schultz, Introduction of Speaker - John Lengeling, Speaker Bernie Saggau, Executive Secretary IHSAA, Presentation of Honor Students and Awarding of Scholarships - Dr. John Nicholls, Citizenship Award - Representative from Iowa Bar Association, Presentation of Class - Dr. John Nicholls, Presentation of Diplomas - Tom Lovig, School Board President, Benediction - Rev. Joe Howe, Recessional - Chris Huntrods.
May 12, 1982. Collins-Maxwell merger vote passes. Residents of the Maxwell and Collins school districts gave an overwhelming vote of approval to the consolidation of the two school districts into one unit in an election held in these two communities Tuesday. In Maxwell only 25 votes were cast against the merger while 383 votes were favorable. In Collins 275 voters approved of the consolidate compared to just 81 no votes.