The CAM and Elk Horn-Kimballton Board of Education held regular, separate meetings Monday evening, in Anita and Elk Horn, respectively. In Anita, CAM Superintendent Steve Pelzer said while the enrollment numbers won’t be certified to the State of Iowa until October, it looks like they have seen an increase in the number of students attending the school district. He said early projections show a possible increase of 10-to 15 students over last year.

Pelzer said the Connections online Academy is doing well also, with an estimated 240 students taking courses through the program, which works in conjunction with the school district. In other business, Pelzer says the Board re-elected Gary Dinkla as its President, and Nick Kaufman as Vice President. And, they approved a request to the State for modified allowable growth for a negative Special Education deficit, but Pelzer said while they don’t anticipate actually having a deficit, the Board approved it just in case.

In Elk Horn, the EHK School Board Monday re-elected Mark Smith as President and Kevin Petersen as Vice President. Superintendent Dean Schnoes said the Board also approved a bid amounting to about $21,000, for the purchase of a new heat pumps from Rasmussen Mechanical Services, out of Council Bluffs. Schnoes said bearings on the heat pumps located in the Elementary/Superintendents/Commons area of the building were going out, and sounded like a “747 taking off.” The new heat pumps will be mounted on the ceiling to keep the vibrations to a minimum. They’ll replace the heat pumps which were more than 30-years old.

Schnoes said also, that while the enrollment numbers for the District won’t be certified until October, the latest numbers show an increase of “two-to three-bodies,” but the future appears to be looking bright, he says, because of the number of new births in the area. He says they’ve noticed a lot more children being born in the area, and perhaps more people will be moving back into the rural areas to raise their families, which would obviously be a benefit for future enrollment numbers.