The Griswold School Board held their regular monthly meeting Thursday night, following a meeting of the Griswold Facilities Committee. Griswold Superintendent Dave Henrichs told KJAN News the Committee was updated on the process for getting information together in advance of a bond referendum. He said JPE Design Studio – with offices in Omaha and Des Moines – was hired for pre-referendum and pre-design services. The facilities committee will work with the firm to develop information for future community meetings. The next meeting is set for Feb. 1^st.  

In the interim, packages of information will be put together to share with the community to gather their thoughts and ideas. The Griswold School Board also discussed, but took no action on the structure of the District’s Transportation Department. Henrichs said they’re going to shift some of the duties over to Al Hunter, with regard to reporting.

And, they discussed the potential hiring of a Construction Manager. Paul Newhart, from Estes Construction has been involved with the school through the Iowa Construction Advocate Team [ICAT], which assists schools with their building projects for free, if they belong to the Iowa Association of School Boards [IASB]. As a side note, Newhart works for Estes Construction, which also provides construction management services to the District. The Board, Henrichs says, needs to make the decision, as they progress through the possibility of a new building, whether or not to use the design, bid, build process, or use a construction manager. Newhart presented the pro’s and con’s of both systems.

At the next Board meeting, the hiring of a Construction Manager will be placed on the agenda, assuming the process continues to move forward. And, the Board held two closed session last night, prior to adjournment. One dealt with Teacher Negotiations and future issues that need to be addressed. The other session was with regard to staffing issues dealing with operational sharing for the 2017-18 school year.