The Griswold School District’s Certified Enrollment and BEDS (Basic Educational Data Survey) numbers are down this for the 2019-2020 School Year. Superintendent Dave Henrichs told KJAN News the Certified Enrollment numbers were due Oct. 15th. He said the Certified number includes all students who live in the district, regardless of where they attend classes. That number was 457.5. That reflects the weight different services are calculated, and is a decrease of 18.3 students from last year. BEDS enrollment (The number of students served every day, not necessarily where they live), went down 28 from last year, which left the total enrollment at 416.9. Henrichs said the District anticipated a decrease of about 15 students. The Certified numbers were close to what they expected, he said, but the BEDS numbers were lower. That’s due to the impact of Open Enrollment, and kids served from other district’s who were down this year.

The Griswold School Board also received an update from Steve Baier, who is on a committee looking to start a daycare center in Griswold that would serve 100 kids. The initial idea they had was to find a building in Griswold suitable for renovation on Main Street at a reasonable price, that would serve as the facility, however, Henrichs said they didn’t have much luck. He said they found it would be too costly to remodel any available building. Therefore, they are exploring building a daycare on school land, with the district sharing playground equipment and so on. The Committee has hired an architect. An architect’s report is needed in-part because they must be included in grant applications. Current funding includes $65,000 from the Noble Church, which was matched by Griswold Communications. That still leaves them well short of the total estimate cost of slightly more than $1-million. Henrichs said the building would not be owned or operated by the school, but the district would be fully in support of those efforts.

The Griswold School Board Monday, also approved the resignations of Rhea Gipple – Special Ed/Para-Educator/Pre-School Educator; Laura Carlton – Wrestling Cheerleading sponsor; Troy Nicklaus – Middle School Volleyball Coach. Mindy Hartman was transferred from Elementary Para-educator to Pre-school Special Ed para-educator. New hires include: Summer Ewing Elementary Para-Educator, and Alexis Riley- Wrestling/Cheerleading sponsor. And, the Board approved a Leave of Absence from Tanner Potter – Middle School Wrestling Coach.

The Board, Monday, set Nov. 6th at 6:30-p.m., as their next Work Session. Henrichs said it is a continuation of discussion fostered during an IASB meeting in July, with regard to a review and revise the hiring process.