Board ratifies teachers’ contracts, okays college classes for freshmen, new lights at Allensworth Field
The Greene County Schools board of directors opened their March 11 meeting with a public hearing on the 2026-27 school calendar. The calendar is similar to the current year except for parent-teacher conference dates. Conferences next year in October and March will be held on a Tuesday and Thursday evening followed by a day off school.
There were no comments from the public and the calendar was approved. Click here to see the 2026-27 school calendar.
The first day of school for students will be Monday, Aug. 24. Christmas break will start when school dismisses Friday, Dec. 18. School will re-open Monday, Jan. 4. Spring break for students will be March 12-19.
The last day of school for seniors will be Thursday, May 20. The last day for other students will be Thursday, May 27.
New for the coming school year, high school freshmen will be able to take college classes. High school principal Karen Shannon explained to the school board that state legislation allows students in grades 9-12 to take college classes if they’re proficient in math, English language arts and science, according to their most recent Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP).
Previously freshmen could take college courses only if they were identified as “gifted.”
Other schools in the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference have limited the college classes freshmen may take prerequisites for community or four-year college courses, Shannon said. “What we didn’t want was to have a wide-open opportunity for students to be taking basketweaving or coaching certification classes like the sky’s the limit. We want to make sure that if a freshman is going to be taking a college class, especially online, that it really be something that we have a little bit of direction for them,” she said.
The classes freshmen may take, starting for the 2026-27 school year, are art appreciation, music appreciation, introduction to psychology, and developmental psychology. Those classes are Senior Year Plus (SYP) classes offered by Iowa Central Community College.
Board president Cindy Daubendiek noted a recent administrative report included a link to a list of 90 different opportunities available to students. “I think it’s just amazing, and this is an opportunity to continue that,” she said and told Shannon to “keep up the good work.”
The board ratified the negotiated agreement with the Greene County Education Association. The agreement includes a $1,250 increase from their current salary. That increase represents a total increase to the district of $155,000, including the district’s share of FICA and IPERS.
The board passed a budget guarantee resolution that will allow the district to receive 101 percent of this year’s budget in state funding for the coming school year. The budget guarantee can be used when a district’s enrollment falls below the rate of increase in state supplemental aid, cushioning the impact of declining enrollment. Superintendent Brett Abbotts said 189 districts in Iowa will be on the budget guarantee next year.
The board approved updating the lights at Allensworth Field, home of the Ram baseball teams. ROI Energy, the same company that installed exterior lights at the elementary and middle schools, will replace 38 light fixtures at the baseball field with LED lights. There are currently four non-functioning lights in left field and seven gone altogether. Activities director Dave Wright said the missing lights can create safety issues. ROI tested the poles a year ago and determined they don’t need to be replaced. Cost of the fixtures is $67,769 including installation. The company estimates saving $855 in energy costs annually. Funding comes from the physical plant and equipment levy.
