| Laurens–Marathon Community School District | |
| Type: | Local school district |
| Grades: | K–8 |
| Established: | 1976 |
| Location: | Laurens, Iowa |
| Region: | Buena Vista, Clay, Palo Alto, and Pocahontas counties |
| Country: | United States |
| Coordinates: | 42.852318, -94.850786 |
| Superintendent: | Kevin Wood |
| Schools: | 1 |
| Budget: | $4,630,000 (2020-21)[1] |
| Us Nces District Id: | 1916420 |
| Students: | 140 (2022-23) |
| Teachers: | 12.76 FTE |
| Staff: | 21.43 FTE |
| Ratio: | 10.97 |
| Mascot: | Chargers |
Laurens–Marathon Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Laurens, Iowa,[2] also serving Marathon. The district occupies sections of Buena Vista, Clay, Palo Alto, and Pocahontas counties.[3]
It formed on July 1, 1976, by the merger of the Laurens Community School District and the Marathon Community School District.[4]
On July 1, 2010, the South Clay Community School District was dissolved, and Laurens–Marathon received portions of the district.[4]
In 2014, the South Central Calhoun Community School District, a district not contiguous with Laurens–Marathon,[5] entered a superintendent-sharing agreement. The shared superintendent was Jeff Kruse.[6]
The district began partial-day sharing, in which students from one district went to another district for some classes, with the Pocahontas Community School District around 2015.[7]
Kruse was scheduled to leave at the end of the 2016–17 school year.[8] Scott Williamson became the new superintendent in July 2017.[9] That year, the L-M and Pocahontas districts began whole grade-sharing, in which one district sent its children to another district for certain grade levels.[7] L-M had multiple classes it was required to have in order to maintain high school grades, but insufficient numbers of students were enrolled in them. As a result, Laurens–Marathon sent its high school students to Pocahontas high school. Around that time period, Laurens–Marathon elementary school students had, as part of a preliminary indication, increased test scores.[10]
The district operates two schools in a single facility in Laurens:[1]
The current 84feet by 50feet gymnasium opened in September 1998. The previous 76feet by 48feet gymnasium, built in the early 1940s, was called "The Barn".[11]