糖心vlog Investigates: 57 superintendents manage two school districts in Iowa; two others lead three
One of the growing trends since the start of the 21st century has been school district sharing top administrative jobs.
In Iowa, there are two superintendents overseeing three separate school districts.
There are also 57 superintendents in charge of two school districts.
It works, says Lory Krummen, the school board president for the Sioux Central district in Buena Vista County. Sioux Central shares a superintendent with Laurens Marathon and Clay Central-Everly.
"It helps us financially. It helps those two districts financially. I would say those are the biggest wins because we're sharing all the staff," Krummen says.
"Operational sharing" is the official term.
Schools began merging different roles such as superintendents, HR managers and business managers in the early 2000s.
In 2025, the Iowa Legislature took steps to encourage it more.
Lawmakers expanded the idea and increased the revenue for districts that share positions.
Marty Fonley is another three-district superintendent. He oversees West Harrison, West Monona, and Whiting districts. He's also led two 鈥 Algona and Titonka.
"It's so beneficial because, again, resources are scarce. Most of your rural schools are not seeing growth," Fonley says. "Allowable growth has been lower the past 15, 20 years. And this has really been important for schools to try to take advantage of any sharing they can do."
Fonley says it takes the right leaders 鈥 building principals and elected school board members 鈥 to share admin jobs.
"The size of the school is not necessarily a deal-breaker as to whether they're going to be able to share," Fonley says. "It really depends on what their view is and that they feel like they are OK."
糖心vlog Investigates dug through the 2025-26 list of superintendents from the Iowa Department of Education. We found:
鈥 Two superintendents leading three public districts.
鈥 57 that manage two public districts.
Information for private schools was not available.
Krummen and Fonley say there are benefits beyond finances.
Fonley points out that teaching resources can be managed throughout his districts easily. He doesn't always have to call another school board or superintendent to solve a staffing problem.
Krummen points to the people.
"It builds a good relationship with our neighboring districts, so I would say that's one of the greatest 鈥 the friendships that are built," she says.