(Underwood, IA) — The Western Iowa Conference is poised to add two new members — Red Oak and Shenandoah have both expressed interest in leaving the Hawkeye Ten Conference and joining the WIC. The Western Iowa had sent out invitations to ten different schools about becoming members on the heels of Audubon and IKM Manning leaving and set an August 1st deadline to consider it. The President of the Western Iowa Conference Andy Irwin, the Superintendent of Underwood schools says that Red Oak and Shenandoah will vote this month to join
Irwin says that 60 percent of the Western Iowa Conference members must vote yes to formally extend an invitation to Red Oak and Shenandoah and then the school boards at those schools will vote in their regularly scheduled August meetings to formally accept the WIC’s invitation to join. Irwin says everything should be decided by August 21. Audubon and IKM Manning will not participate in the vote as they are both on the way to joining the Rolling Valley Conference and Irwin says the conference will cooperate fully with that process
There is also the possibility that Treynor could leave the WIC — they have an invitation to join the Hawkeye Ten and Irwin says their decision is not final yet
Should Red Oak and Shenandoah officially make the jump, the Hawkeye Ten would be down to 9 schools with 4 of them receiving invitations to join the Missouri Rivers Conference — Denison Schleswig, Glenwood, Harlan and Lewis Central. Carroll has also received an invitation to join the H-10. It is currently not clear what year Red Oak and Shenandoah would join the WIC.
The other 8 schools that got invitations to join the WIC were AC/GC, Earlham Panorama, and West Central Valley out of the West Central; Nodaway Valley and Southwest Valley from the Pride of Iowa and MVAOCOU and Westwood from the Western Valley.
With Audubon and IKM Manning leaving and Red Oak and Shenandoah possibly entering, the other current members of the WIC include AHSTW, Logan Magnolia, Missouri Valley, Riverside, Tri Center, Underwood and Treynor’s membership is up in the air.
Complete Interview with President of the Western Iowa Conference Andy Irwin
