(Griswold, Iowa) – Members of the Griswold Community School District’s Board of Education, Monday evening, held a public hearing on the District’s 2023-24 Budget, during which there was no public input. Superintendent Dave Henrichs said the Board later on in their meeting approved the Budget at presented, which has the lowest tax levy rate since 2019.

He spoke also about the property tax assessments which have residents all across Iowa riled-up. Henrichs says that will have no bearing on next year’s taxes or budget, because it doesn’t go into effect for another year.

Another budget highlight Henrichs mentioned, was, for the third-year in a row, the District is levying “An advanced payment,” or “Surplus”levy, which will result in a substantial savings for taxpayers.

In other business, the Board continued discussion, but no action for now, with regard to a Four-day School Week. A staff meeting was held April 5th to inform Griswold staff of what research into what a four-day school week may look like, in terms of scheduling, contracts and the school calendar. Staff has an opportunity to ask questions afterward, and fill-out a survey with options to the proposal.

Ultimately, the Griswold School Board, Henrichs says, decided to, during their May meeting, schedule a work session for June or July, to put ideas together in terms of answering some of their staff’s questions. If the District decides to implement a four-day school week, it wouldn’t even happen until the the 2024-25 school year, at the earliest. The Board, Monday, approved the list of graduates. The Class of 2023 has 28 students set to receive their diplomas, in May. The Griswold school board left ’23-’24 registration fees the same as last year. Book fees are $30 per student, with reduced lunch book fees $15, and those on free lunch have no book fees.

A snow day make-up plan was approved, that reduces the amount of days students and staff must attend beyond the end of the school year.

There were two closed sessions and a student expulsion closed session. In the latter session, the Griswold School Board to expel a student for the remainder of the school year. In another, they reviewed the performance of Board Secretary Hannah Bierbaum, who Henrichs says “does a great job,” and, they listened to the concerns of a staff member with regard to contract considerations, and the Board agreed to make adjustments to the contract as necessary.