The Hartley–Melvin–Sanborn (H-M-S) Community School District is a rural

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

headquartered in

Hartley, Iowa Hartley is a city in O'Brien County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,605 in the 2020 census. History Hartley got its start around 1880, following construction of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway through that territory. Hart ...

. The district is located in portions of O'Brien and

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

counties, with a small section in

Dickinson County Dickinson County is the name of three counties in the United States: * Dickinson County, Iowa * Dickinson County, Kansas * Dickinson County, Michigan See also * Dickenson County, Virginia Dickenson County is a county located in the Commonw ...

. It serves the cities of Hartley,

Melvin Melvin is a masculine given name and surname, likely a variant of Melville and a descendant of the French surname de Maleuin and the later Melwin. It may alternatively be spelled as Melvyn or, in Welsh, Melfyn and the name Melivinia or Melva may ...

, Sanborn and May City.

History

The district formed on July 1, 1991, with the merger of the Hartley–Melvin and Sanborn districts. In April 2014, there was a first attempt at a school bond that was voted down with only 40% of voters approving, and in September 2016 a second attempt, with $16.2 million for the bond, failed with 56% support. The margin of failure that time was 47 votes. The district attempted to pass a $16.5 million bond in April 2017 and stated it would close Hartley–Melvin–Sanborn Elementary School in Hartley if it did not pass. The bond needed a 60% threshold to pass, but the count was 904–615, with only 59.5% approving. On December 11, 2017, the district said the school would close after Spring 2019. Initial plans were to move elementary students to the middle school building. In 2018 another bond, for $18.9 million, was voted on and passed. The new bond will add a new elementary school to the high school and renovated and expanded the existing middle school. This project is estimated to be completed in the fall of 2020. The HMS Quizbowl team won the 2020 KCAU9 tournament hosted by

Buena Vista University Buena Vista University is a private university in Storm Lake, Iowa. Founded in 1891 as Buena Vista College, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The university's campus is situated on the shores of Storm Lake, a natural lake. At i ...

. Thus earning themselves a spot at the state and

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

competitions that were ultimately canceled by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Schools

* Hartley–Melvin–Sanborn High School (Hartley) * Hartley–Melvin–Sanborn Middle School (Sanborn) * Hartley–Melvin–Sanborn Elementary School (Hartley) ** It previously had a standalone building constructed in the 1930s. In 2018 HMS administrators stated that the building did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and also argued that it was generally out of date. The former building was scheduled to close in 2019. ** The new elementary school was completed in August 2020 by Boyd Jones construction.

References

External links

Hartley–Melvin–Sanborn School District website
School districts in Iowa Education in Dickinson County, Iowa Education in O'Brien County, Iowa Education in Osceola County, Iowa 1991 establishments in Iowa School districts established in 1991 {{Iowa-school-stub