RIVERSIDE

Football may be the only sport that surfaces in a potential partnership between the Highland and Lone Tree school districts.

Board members at Highland Community Schools determined at its special meeting Monday that football should be a focus and that Highland’s new varsity head coach should be involved in discussions between the two districts.

Board President Nate Robinson said he was in favor of a meeting that would involve the Huskies’ new coach, who is yet to be named.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I think it’s important they know what they’re getting into.”

Discussions in Lone Tree, including at a Board meeting earlier in January, centered on the two school districts sharing multiple sports due to falling participation numbers, including potentially track and golf in the spring.

Highland Board members were not in favor of a spring partnership.

“I think it’s too late in the game to be talking about spring,” Robinson said.

Varsity football at both schools was paused last fall. Highland, competing in Iowa Class A, paused its program after two games due to low numbers of participation and injury risk; Lone Tree, which competes in Iowa’s eight-man class, never played a varsity game. Lone Tree nearly reached a partnership agreement with West Branch in football, but the deal didn’t happen. Lone Tree instead fielded a junior varsity team.

Highland is actively searching for a varsity head football coach following the resignation of last year’s head coach, Cory Quail. Superintendent Spencer Lueders said the selection process might be finalized in February, leading to Board approval in March.

Board members agreed that a meeting with Lone Tree officials, including Highland’s new head coach, would be a goal for sometime in March.

“I want to get everybody in one room,” said Dan Ruth, Highland Board Vice President.

A formal proposal has not been voted on by the Lone Tree Board, Lone Tree Superintendent Tyler Hotz told The News.

The schools previously partnered in football as the Raiders.

Summer Program

A proposed summer program for Highland Elementary School will be in front of the Board for approval in February, Lueders told board members.

“We’d love to be able to hire high school students as a part of this program,” he said.

The program would run from June 1 to July 31, 2026, at Highland Elementary. Proposed hours are 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The program would be open to students in pre-K through the fifth grade, and include academic and project-based learning in the mornings, and art, music, science and physical/sports activities in the afternoons.

The cost is expected to be about $150 per week.

Board Action

The Board set a public hearing for 5 p.m. Feb. 9 as it considers continued participation in the Iowa Instructional Support Program.

Next Meeting

The Board will hold its next formal meeting at 5 p.m. February 9.