(Updated 8:50-a.m. 3/8) —

About 100 people attended a meeting Tuesday night of the Griswold School Board, to hear the latest developments concerning the future of the district’s facilities. Superintendent Dave Henrichs told KJAN News the Facilities Committee has been exploring three options.

One was to consolidate the District’s building into one campus to be located at Griswold. Another was to eliminate one of the two Elementary buildings. The third option was to reconfigure the current facilities. Their recommendation to the Board was Option A – to consolidate all operations into one facility at the Griswold campus.

The Griswold School Board, he said, unanimously approved continuing down that path. The Facilities Committee will continue meeting with the KPE Architectural firm hired by the District, with a further goal of gathering more input from staff members and the community. From the input, they will start designing the plans for the new building along with a cost estimate.

The next Facilities’ Committee meetings will be held March 22^nd and April 4^th. At each meeting, the architects will update the group, ask for more input and add to the plan until it’s solidified. Afterward, there will be a series of community outreach meetings to inform the public about the plan and costs. At some point a final plan will be brought to the Board for approval, and the date for a bond vote will be set.

Henrichs said at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting, which he said was “very well attended,” surveys were handed out. They could be filled-out and turned back in, or taken home and returned later. From those that were turned in, Henrichs says there were a couple of suggestions with regard to specific planning issues, the rest were generally positive with the way the plans are progressing.

Dave Henrichs said he wants to thank the Facilities Committee for their hard work and due diligence in exploring the District’s options thoroughly and thoughtfully. He commended them and said they have spent a lot of time looking at the right information and did not come in with preconceived ideas and thoughts. They looked at the facts and figures to get to where they are now. He said also “Their job is not done yet, but I have faith they’ll do a great job.”