The Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Board of Education approved the recommendation from administration and athletic department to accept the invite into the Hawkeye Ten Conference. The district received an invite over the summer, joining schools such as Kuemper Catholic, Denison-Schleswig, Atlantic and Harlan close by. CCSD Superintendent Dr. Casey Berlau says a survey was sent to parents, coaches, and students to gain their perspective of the change, with 70 percent of the 247 responses in favor of the move. Berlau says High School Principal Joe Blazevich and Activities Director Randy Bissen met after the community meeting last week to recommend the switch.
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Board member Jill Johnston question if CCSD could continue to have some sports combined with Kuemper Catholic if accepting the invitation into the same conference. Bissen said yes, CCSD would just not have its own team for that sport.
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Johnston also raised some concern over if the conference would create significant in town rivalry and how that might play out. Bissen said it all depends on who you would ask.
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Questions were also asked regarding music and fine arts programs and if there were any significant differences between the two conferences. Bissen says it is mostly the same, but they do not offer one event that the Raccoon River did.
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Carroll High School Band Director Wayne Lu said he has already been in contact with another director from a school in the conference to change that.
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The Hawkeye Ten Conference also holds an award night, honoring students being selected for the Academic Team and Character Awards to recognize exceptional academic performance, displaying the Six Pillars of Character and moral characteristics. The board unanimously voted to approve the recommendation to accept the invite and will be starting the process of transferring into the Hawkeye Ten Conference.