Clarkson/Leigh No More?

[Anon1751637994]

I just read the board meeting minutes from Leigh's Oct. 15 board meeting. It looks as though the Clarkson/Leigh co-op is on the chopping block..............that would end a very long and successful co-op if it were to happen. I'm a little surprised by it all.

Leigh Community Schools - October 2025

Agenda NOTICE OF MEETING (9).doc Minutes LW 10-25.doc

www.leighcommunityschools.org

 

[Alum-Ni]

At a special board meeting of the Clarkson school board on Oct. 22, they unanimously approved to continue the coop agreement for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.

Not knowing the behind-the-scenes details, there could be any number of issues that patrons of both districts have problems with: contest locations, coaching assignments, gate receipts, what activities to coop in, etc.

Clarkson Public Schools - Special Meeting Minutes

www.clarksonpublicschools.org

 

[Alum-Ni]

 

[just_average32]

Ouch. Pulling out the Bancroft-Rosalie move

 

[Dynasty Dreaming]

Could be one of the worst decisions ever, and hurt kids from both schools immediately and in the long run! They got together for a reason, and it’s worked really well. Hell their girls are in a district final in volleyball.

Neither community is growing enough to sustain long term. We’re still at a point only one child can take over a farm and few small farms exist.

So Leigh is fine now. What about in 15-20 years. Adults are dumb and ruin good things when it comes to coops and consolidations. Just my opinion.

 

[LooseCannon]

Could be one of the worst decisions ever, and hurt kids from both schools immediately and in the long run! They got together for a reason, and it’s worked really well. Hell their girls are in a district final in volleyball.

Neither community is growing enough to sustain long term. We’re still at a point only one child can take over a farm and few small farms exist.

So Leigh is fine now. What about in 15-20 years. Adults are dumb and ruin good things when it comes to coops and consolidations. Just my opinion.

This is so spot on. It’s not 1995 anymore. And the adults who graduated in the 1995 still think it is.

This would be a perfect time for Clarkson to merge with Howells-Dodge and just keep rolling up 10 win seasons every year in football and district titles in everything else.

They’d get bumped to C2 for a cycle or two but probably drop back to 8 man in football quickly. Those communities are not growing quickly.

 

[HuskerO58]

How long have they been together?

 

[[email protected]]

How long have they been together?

14 years

 

[HuskerO58]

14 years

Dang, that's a long time and a great run with quite a bit of success.

I'm not from the area so no dog in the fight, but hopefully they can figure out a way to stay together.

 

[LooseCannon]

 

[Dynasty Dreaming]

 

[Llama913]

 

[Llama913]

The only positive out of this would be a return of the Red Devil mascot.
Serious question, could East Husker remove them from the conference? Leigh & Clarkson on their own don't really fit IMO.

 

[hailvictors2]

Awful news. And just a ridiculously unprofessional move by Leigh. Clarkson is left without a cooperative partner now, and football cooperatives are due November 1.

 

[hailvictors2]

The only positive out of this would be a return of the Red Devil mascot.
Serious question, could East Husker remove them from the conference? Leigh & Clarkson on their own don't really fit IMO.

Yes

 

[Rolling Hills Rebel]

There must be some deeper issue Leigh had with clarkson here? Wasn’t Leigh trending towards dead back when this co-op started? I know they have rebounded nicely with the new school and a lot or positives happening in that community with the Leigh legacy fund.

Real bummer though, they were what I thought was a shining example of what a really successful co-op looked like and I’m sure other communities grappling with these decisions were using them as a model of how it could work.

 

[JAG164]

This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen… And 1 day before CO-OPs?? Sad for the kids.

 

[Alum-Ni]

This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen… And 1 day before CO-OPs?? Sad for the kids.

Just awful timing.....was it done this way out of spite?

Maybe the NSAA can grant Clarkson an extension to find a partner......?

 

[SkolSker]

There must be some deeper issue Leigh had with clarkson here? Wasn’t Leigh trending towards dead back when this co-op started? I know they have rebounded nicely with the new school and a lot or positives happening in that community with the Leigh legacy fund.

Real bummer though, they were what I thought was a shining example of what a really successful co-op looked like and I’m sure other communities grappling with these decisions were using them as a model of how it could work.

Leigh Legacy Fund lmao. Have fun in 6 man!

 

[LooseCannon]

I really hope those Leigh parents who wanted this enjoy seeing 14 kids on their 6 man roster next year wearing Panther gear and probably going sub .500 if that. What a short sighted move.

Leigh has no natural partners if the want to co-op again. They aren’t getting a bunch of Lakeview or Madison kids transferring to Leigh.

I feel awful for Clarkson. Hopefully the NSAA gives them a grace period to see if they can find a partner. And hopefully that partner is 7 miles on 91 in the other direction.

 

[ahansel]

2022 State Champs in Football and 2023 State Runner up in Volleyball. Success is there. What caused this to happen?

 

[JAG164]

2022 State Champs in Football and 2023 State Runner up in Volleyball. Success is there. What caused this to happen?

Absolutely no insight to this situation - but, been alive long enough to guess.. Someone at Leigh has a kid(s) that didn't/doesn't play.. Unbelievably near-sighted decision..

 

[GrizzzlyPanda]

Puts Clarkson in a really tough spot, as their only partner they really could have is Howells-Dodge. I think it would be sweet if they were able to join Howells-Dodge, but I am not sure I see HD taking them in and moving up a class in just about everything. Last football cycle for example that number would've been 66.

Leigh on the other hand obviously thinks they can do it by alone....but in a hypothetical situation Leigh does have a partner to the west in Humphrey. I am curious to see what happens with the Humphrey-Lindsay Academy coop as Lindsay Academy will no doubt grow over the next few years with their new facility. Could that open the door for a Humphrey-Leigh combo?

But obviously any school would be taking a MASSIVE risk jumping into any sort of agreement with Leigh, considering how this was handled.

Just some thoughts....

 

[LooseCannon]

Puts Clarkson in a really tough spot, as their only partner they really could have is Howells-Dodge. I think it would be sweet if they were able to join Howells-Dodge, but I am not sure I see HD taking them in and moving up a class in just about everything. Last football cycle for example that number would've been 66.

Leigh on the other hand obviously thinks they can do it by alone....but in a hypothetical situation Leigh does have a partner to the west in Humphrey. I am curious to see what happens with the Humphrey-Lindsay Academy coop as Lindsay Academy will no doubt grow over the next few years with their new facility. Could that open the door for a Humphrey-Leigh combo?

But obviously any school would be taking a MASSIVE risk jumping into any sort of agreement with Leigh, considering how this was handled.

Just some thoughts....

I mean, if Clarkson went with H-D and they bumped to C2, I’d bet they would do just fine in C2. Their coaches are great. Their athletes aren’t afraid. Howells bumped up in 2006 and they went 10-2 with a semifinal loss to eventual champion Wakefield.

 

[wildcat_husker19]

I'm from one of the communities and have talked with people in both communities.

To be honest, it's just not a good culture fit. Leigh kids would rather be on their own and lose than be with Clarkson and win (in their words). They don't like the coaching style and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. On the flip side, I don't think there's anything wrong with Clarkson's approach to sports being a huge priority.

A better fit for Clarkson would be Howells/Dodge. But the timing of this has put Clarkson in a really hard spot.

 

[GrizzzlyPanda]

I mean, if Clarkson went with H-D and they bumped to C2, I’d bet they would do just fine in C2. Their coaches are great. Their athletes aren’t afraid. Howells bumped up in 2006 and they went 10-2 with a semifinal loss to eventual champion Wakefield.

I have absolutely NO doubt that they would be perfectly fine at C2, I was just saying for reference more than anything.

 

[wildcat_husker19]

I mean, if Clarkson went with H-D and they bumped to C2, I’d bet they would do just fine in C2. Their coaches are great. Their athletes aren’t afraid. Howells bumped up in 2006 and they went 10-2 with a semifinal loss to eventual champion Wakefield.

Due to the timing of this, it's too late for the next couple years.

 

[LooseCannon]

The only positive out of this would be a return of the Red Devil mascot.
Serious question, could East Husker remove them from the conference? Leigh & Clarkson on their own don't really fit IMO.

They wouldn’t really have a place to go. Unless they’d go to the Goldenrod.

Really the entire EHC needs to be reshuffled. WPB doesn’t fit in that league anymore with their enrollment.

Cut the league in half.

Humphrey-Lindsay
Madison
Stanton
Wisner-Pilger
Leigh
Clarkson
Howells-Dodge
Scribner-Snyder

Oakland-Craig
Lyons-Decatur
Tekamah-Herman
Bancroft-Rosalie
Pender
Wakefield
West Point
North Bend

 

[LooseCannon]

I'm from one of the communities and have talked with people in both communities.

To be honest, it's just not a good culture fit. Leigh kids would rather be on their own and lose than be with Clarkson and win (in their words). They don't like the coaching style and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. On the flip side, I don't think there's anything wrong with Clarkson's approach to sports being a huge priority.

A better fit for Clarkson would be Howells/Dodge. But the timing of this has put Clarkson in a really hard spot.

I thought it was an odd marriage at the beginning as well. Clarkson and Howells are and have always been the better fit. Even a better fit at the time than Dodge when H-D merged. I always felt Dodge and Snyder were very similar and should have merged in the 80’s when Snyder went to Scribner.)

People forget that it was almost Clarkson-Howells before it changed last minute.

It would be ideal if Clarkson could get some sort of grace period with the NSAA to chat with H-D to gauge interest.

 

[wildcat_husker19]

I thought it was an odd marriage at the beginning as well. Clarkson and Howells are and have always been the better fit. Even a better fit at the time than Dodge when H-D merged. I always felt Dodge and Snyder were very similar and should have merged in the 80’s when Snyder went to Scribner.)

People forget that it was almost Clarkson-Howells before it changed last minute.

It would be ideal if Clarkson could get some sort of grace period with the NSAA to chat with H-D to gauge interest.

From what I've heard this morning, H-D is interested in taking on Clarkson (but I'm sure it's fluid). The head football coaches at both schools are very close friends as well.

Would be nice if there was a grace period, given the situation.

 

[JAG164]

Leigh school board votes 9-0 to end co-op with Clarkson after emotional board meeting

Two Northeast Nebraska schools that have joined together for activities for years are now headed in separate directions.

northeast.newschannelnebraska.com

 

[Alum-Ni]

I'm from one of the communities and have talked with people in both communities.

To be honest, it's just not a good culture fit. Leigh kids would rather be on their own and lose than be with Clarkson and win (in their words). They don't like the coaching style and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. On the flip side, I don't think there's anything wrong with Clarkson's approach to sports being a huge priority.

A better fit for Clarkson would be Howells/Dodge. But the timing of this has put Clarkson in a really hard spot.

Coaching can be changed and addressed. Seems hard to fathom that culture issues caused this after its been in place for 14+ years.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Absolutely no insight to this situation - but, been alive long enough to guess.. Someone at Leigh has a kid(s) that didn't/doesn't play.. Unbelievably near-sighted decision..

Watching some of the videos and reading comments, sadly, seems like this is at least part of it.

 

[CoachSloup]

From what I've heard this morning, H-D is interested in taking on Clarkson (but I'm sure it's fluid). The head football coaches at both schools are very close friends as well.

Would be nice if there was a grace period, given the situation.

Can confirm that is NOT going to happen.

 

[wildcat_husker19]

Coaching can be changed and addressed. Seems hard to fathom that culture issues caused this after its been in place for 14+ years.

It's just my best guess. Leigh's numbers were going up but less and less kids were wanting to go out for sports. Not sure how it wasn't a problem for the last decade and now all of the sudden it is because the volleyball and football head coaches have been the same.

 

[CoachSloup]

Watching some of the videos and reading comments, sadly, seems like this is at least part of it.

The video of the board member saying girls walked away from sports because they weren't good enough to play makes me want to throw up. Here's a thought...stay on the team, be a GREAT teammate, and learn that life isn't fair. Stop being soft af and walking away when things don't go your way.

 

[wildcat_husker19]

Can confirm that is NOT going to happen.

Why not?

 

[CoachSloup]

Why not?

Sources told me so.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Cooperative agreement between Leigh, Clarkson dissolved

LEIGH —Despite hearing arguments for Leigh Community Schools and Clarkson Public Schools to keep their cooperative agreement, the Leigh school board decided Thursday to dissolve the co-op for the 2026-27

norfolkdailynews.com

Cooperative agreement between Leigh, Clarkson dissolved
by Avery Carl, Norfolk Daily News

LEIGH - Despite hearing arguments for Leigh Community Schools and Clarkson Public Schools to keep their cooperative agreement, the Leigh school board decided to dissolve the co-op for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.

More than 400 people showed up at Thursday night's special meeting, with most expressing their opposition to the decision.

LCS and CPS have been in a co-op for almost 14 years, with the agreement being approved in May 2011 for volleyball and girls and boys track and October 2011 for football, boys and girls basketball and boys and girls golf for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. It's an agreement that has kept both schools satisfied for the better part of a decade. But as enrollment for school sports dipped, the schools started to reevaluate the agreement.

Enrollment numbers for both schools have been steadily increasing, with both towns experiencing something akin to a baby boom in the past couple of years. However, despite that increase in enrollment, CPS and LCS -- like all towns across the nation -- are still experiencing decreasing participation in school activities, specifically volleyball and football.

While there are a lot of outside factors that could cause this, the schools started to see trends of students leaving sports, mostly due to lack of playing time.

"We want every kid to be involved, right?" said Andrew Faltys, Leigh administration's 7-12 principal and athletic director. ".....We want our kids representing specifically the community schools, and I don't know if that's happening to the best of our ability that we have here, and we want to make sure that we can do everything to make sure our kids are having the best experience possible with participation."

The school boards sent out a notice to both communities that the boards had started to discuss ending their co-op on Sept. 18. More than 20 people spoke at the special meeting on Thursday, with most community members being against the dissolution.

"I compare this to a marriage," said Roger Gall, a Leigh community member. "Are there good times all the time? No, never."

Gall went on to talk about the mistakes that both communities made that allegedly led to this co-op being dissolved, with both towns causing problems on both their ends. Gall argued that the graphs and charts showing that this will be good for both communities show only a small snapshot of how it's going to affect the community. How will small business owners be affected? How will the students?

"I feel like everyone now, you hear rumors upon rumors," Gall said. "I hope they're not true, but this is going to affect a lot of companies, so all I gotta say is, when all of you vote tonight, don't just think about the short-term consequences."

Another point that was brought to question was funding. In a Patriots-themed gymnasium, looking at a Patriots-themed scoreboard and looking at teams with Patriots jerseys, attendees of the special meeting wondered where the school was going to get the funds for a complete team rebrand. Then, when the board members said they were going to dip into their "rainy day fund," that seemed to spur up even more questions, especially from speaker Larry Cerny.

"When you call it a 'rainy day fund,' you are so wrong," Cerny said. "Because if you call it a 'rainy day fund,' that money should be spent on books and on things for academics, and you're looking at me right now saying, 'Let's split and do a foolish thing that we had for so good for so long.'"

A new football helmet alone costs $450, attendees said, and the school would need to buy each player a new one with the new school logo.

A common accusation at Thursday's meeting was lack of communication. A lot of attendees said both boards seemed to just have a problem with each other and split because of it. Community members voiced frustration that the decision seemed to rushed.

"Each and every one of you, you're doing the wrong thing," Cerny said. ".....You're not ready to do what you want to do."

The saying, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" was heard throughout the meeting, with people arguing that there was nothing wrong with the co-op and hasn't been for 14 years. Communities should grow together, argued junior Clarkson/Leigh football player Wyatt Langhorst, and doing this will not only split the teams, but split the community.

Community members agreed that splitting up a team that had won a state title just three years before didn't make any sense. It's something that only makes sense when you look at short-term numbers, not something that works in the bigger picture, they argued.

Both the board and the community members wanted to have the kids' best interest at heart, with both sides arguing that they're not thinking about the long-term effects that the splitting could have on the students of Clarkson and Leigh.

Plus, based on the Facebook post made by Clarkson Public Schools asking for kindness from the community of Clarkson, neither side is taking the split well.

"Let's continue to model the courtesy and cooperation that reflects our shared values," the post stated. "Thoughtful listening and respectful engagement will help ensure productive communication and positive outcomes for everyone involved."

However, after more than an hour of executive discussion and the result of a unanimous decision to end the co-op, thoughtful listening and respectful engagement went out the window.

Cries of "shame on you" could be heard throughout the Leigh gymnasium as the board members exited. Students mourned their lost team with one young girl crying, "What was the point of all that?" after no change in the result despite more than an hour of arguments against it.

 

[Rolling Hills Rebel]

The video of the board member saying girls walked away from sports because they weren't good enough to play makes me want to throw up. Here's a thought...stay on the team, be a GREAT teammate, and learn that life isn't fair. Stop being soft af and walking away when things don't go your way.

I thought the same thing, do they not offer JV and C team options if you want to be a part of the team? The school my kids go to is smaller than this co-op and we have those options here. Unfortunately soft parenting and the social environment we live in has created kids that when they don’t see immediate results they give up. Crazy thing is Clarkson-Leigh has coaches that are respected across the whole state in most of their sports.

I guess the one nice thing about being in Nebraska weather your a family in Leigh or clarkson if you don’t agree with this situation option enrollment out of your district is an option.