The district formed on July 1, 1993, with the merger of the Cedar Valley Community School District and the Prairie Community School District.[4]
In August 2014, the district began a whole grade-sharing arrangement with the Southeast Webster-Grand Community School District as a way to deal with smaller enrollments and as a way to save money. The two districts together share middle and high schools.[5]
In March 2022 voters agreed to consolidate Prairie Valley with Southeast Webster-Grand to form Southeast Valley Community School District, effective fall 2023.[6] On July 1, 2023, the merger occurred.[7]
Prior to the grade sharing, the Prairie Valley district had two schools: The elementary served pre-kindergarten through 6th grade and is located between Farnhamville and Somers. The Prairie Valley High School served 7th grade through 12th grade and was located in Gowrie.
Most of the districts were merged after public votes. Dissolutions, most also the result of public votes, are in italics, and involuntary dissolutions done by the Iowa State Board of Education are marked with asterisks (*).