Greene County Community Schools will receive special education and support services from Heartland Area Education Agency next school year. The move, which is now allowed with a change in Iowa law last year, will take Greene County Schools out of the Prairie Lakes AEA.
The decision to change AEAs was approved by the Greene County Schools board at its regular meeting Jan. 8. “Our move to Heartland is about services for students,” school superintendent Brett Abbotts told the board. “We think we have greater opportunity with Heartland…to get access and support for our kids and teachers.”
Greene County staff has already taken advantage of two different training opportunities available through Heartland but not Prairie Lakes, Abbotts added.
Heartland AEA’s offices are in Johnston. It serves all of Polk, Dallas, Story, Marion, Warren and Guthrie counties, and parts of Jasper, Madison, Adair, Audubon, Carroll and Boone counties.
Prairie Lakes AEA’s offices are in Pocahontas. It serves all of Dickinson, Emmet, Clay, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Humboldt, Webster, Calhoun and Sac counties, and parts of Osceola, Kossuth, Wright, Hamilton, Boone, and until next year, Greene County.
In other business, the board is getting closer to planning for construction of new restroom facilities at Linduska Field. Board facilities committee member Michelle Fields reported that OPN Architects now has information to justify many fewer than the state-required number of stools, and that the facilities committee plans to bring together another committee of Activity Boosters, coaches, and members of the community to discuss design.
“We’d like input from the public of what they’d like it to look like… with it being that much of a forward-facing project,” Fields said.
The first step is to hear from the state how many lavatories are needed. Design is next, according to Abbotts. “Our list of summer projects is pretty long as it is, not that that’s a deterrent. We already have some upgrades we’re planning for Linduska for the summer. We’ve talked about it a long time. It’s time to get going,” he said.
The board approved resignations for the purpose of retirement from kindergarten teacher Michelle Wilkening and elementary phys. ed. teacher Sean Thompson. Each of them has taught 32 years, all of them in the East Greene/Greene County schools.
The board also accepted resignations from elementary counselor Jillian Anglemyer and three coaches – football coach James Duncan, boys soccer coach Carl Behne, and middle school football coach Dan Hardaway.
The board approved making requests to the School Budget Review Committee for $13,937.87 in administrative costs paid to Grandwood, and for $8,312.55 in administrative costs for Woodward Academy.
During his superintendent’s report, Abbotts commended Ram wrestling coach Kirk Davis for his 250th career dual win and noted the team has three ranked wrestlers. “It shows the great work going on in the wrestling program,” he said.
