DECORAH, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Department of Education denied an appeal from Decorah Schools to switch its athletic conference next school year to avoid its students traveling up to 290 miles round-trip for high school games.

Right now, Decorah is part of the Northeast Iowa Conference, which will dissolve at the end of this school year. Each school in Iowa is entitled to join an athletic conference, meant to match up schools with the same size and in the same area.

Decorah asked to join the Upper Iowa Conference but was denied because of its high school enrollment size of 435, more than double the average enrollment of the conference. The next closest Upper Iowa Conference school in enrollment is North Fayette Valley at 243.

Based on size, Decorah would most likely join the WaMaC conference. But Decorah says that will create travel issues for its student-athletes. The average distance between Decorah and WaMaC schools is 112 miles one way. Independence is the closest school at 68 miles while Grinnell would be the farthest at 145 miles, meaning students would travel 290 miles round trip for a competition.

After mediation failed to reach an agreement, the Iowa Department of Education accepted the mediators’ recommendation to deny Decorah’s appeal to join the Upper Iowa Conference.

“However, a choice between travel time and school size must be made,” the Iowa Department of Education ruling states. “By its decision, the mediation team gave greater weight to the latter while considering both factors.”

Decorah’s School Board is set to discuss next steps at its meeting on November 11th.

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