The Boyer Valley Community School District has taken the next step in finding a new Superintendent/Middle School High School Principal. In a packed community room at the high school Monday night, the board heard from several members of the audience during the open forum to voice their disapproval of the recent board vote to combine the principal and superintendent jobs into one.

Twenty five people were in attendance. Elizabeth Heistand, a recently elected board member, told the audience the board decided in an agreement to approve the motion at their last board meeting. Of the concerns from the crowd, trust was an issue as was the lack of research done by the board. Board member Steve Puck agreed. “We should have discussed the ideas of how we are going to cover it, who’s going to do what. That all should be part of our decision and we never did.”

Chairman Bud Dunham differed in opinion by stating the board had talked about merging the jobs several times and no one mentioned other solutions. Trisha Roberts, a concerned citizen told the board she would like to see the board rescind their vote from last month. “I personally would like to see more exhaustive research done. And if it ends up being the same decision, fine. But I don’t feel like all the plans and different options were completely exhausted for such a major decision be made. I would like to see the board reconsider their vote from last month and do that research and come up with a plan and then comeback and say yes this is the plan and this is the way to go.”

Dunham mentioned 51 other schools in the state of Iowa have a shared position of Superintendent/HS Principal at the moment. Later in the meeting, the board did move forward with the plans to find a new Superintendent/MSHS Principal by hiring long time Harlan Community Superintendent Bob Broomfield as a consultant to help the school district hire the shared position. The fee for Broomfield is $7,000.

In other business, the Boyer Valley School board heard from head football coach Jay Peterson on the topic of the school’s baseball program. Last year, the district shared baseball with Woodbine. Coach Peterson said the original plan a week ago was to disband baseball from the district altogether but now believed that was not a good idea. “I think we will have enough kids here to maintain a baseball program successfully without scraping by and keep that in house without sharing equipment. It is something I would be interested in doing with that job were available.”

Peterson went on to say he had spoken to kids informally and had a rough estimate of 16 to 19 kids who would go out for baseball if it were offered in the summer. Last season with Woodbine, only 5 to 7 kids went out according to Athletic Director Ernie Klein. The board agreed and a formal motion will be brought to the board at their February meeting.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Officials with the Cass County Memorial Hospital Foundation say they are offering $10,000 in scholarships to students who are enrolled and have been accepted into a nursing or medical doctor training program.  The scholarships were established by a bequest from Louis and Elsie Hansen.  John Molgaard, CCMH Foundation board member, says “The Hansens believed strongly in the importance of education, and the need for well-trained healthcare professionals,” explained .  We are very proud to provide this scholarship in their memory.”

The Louis and Elsie Hansen Memorial Scholarship was established to benefit Cass County high school graduates who are enrolled in a college of nursing or medicine, leading to an LPN, RN or MD degree.  Two $5000 awards will be presented.

Consideration will be given to applicants’ scholarship, citizenship and leadership abilities.  Applications are available at area high school guidance offices and the Foundation office at Cass County Memorial Hospital.  Applications are also available to download through a link on the hospital website, www.casshealth.org.

2013 recipients of the Elsie and Louie Hansen Scholarship were Ben Kopp of Anita who is attending the University of Iowa College of Medicine and Alisha Ponsar who is attending Creighton University for a Registered Nurse with Bachelor of Science degree.

Applications for the scholarship are due April 1, 2014.  For further information, contact Dawn Marnin, CCMH Foundation Director, at 712-243-7409 or mardd@casshealth.org.

The Harlan Community School District’s Board of Education has approved the final plans for the Merrill Field Project. In a meeting held Monday, the board made their comments and gathered the final information from Superintendent Justin Wagner before making the motion. Wagner said there are five pieces to take away with the project. “There are really five major parts of this: field turf, resurfacing of the track, the bleachers, lighting and the entrance. If you look at that the cyclone logo will be in the middle, new bleachers on the visitor side and the home side.”

Wagner told the board the figures for bleachers came in slightly lower then originally thought so the plans now include all new bleachers including the elementary bleachers on the north end which was not in the previous plans. The district will be receiving a donation from FMCTC to provide all the boring and trenching for the electrical contractor too which is said to be a huge savings in the project.

With the board’s approval, the next step is  FEH Associates to solicit bids for the project. The Harlan School Board also set the date of February 10^th at 4:30-pm for a public hearing on the gym air conditioning system for the high school gymnasium.

Board president Bruce Goeser said the system has been discussed for nearly 7 years and is on its last legs. Wagner said the money is there and the energy audit recently done showed the school could save over $20,000 on energy savings with a new system. He said a new system will cost approximately $370,000 and the school district has set $384,000 aside for the project. Once the public hearing is held and bids are approved, the school expects the system to be installed after graduation with a completion date of August 1^st.

The board also discussed at length about the drugs and alcohol issue at the school district. In light of recent news, the Harlan Community School District is discussing ways to make a tougher stand on drugs and alcohol use in the district. One topic discussed was the potential to perform random drug testing in the junior high and high school. High School Principal John Connell said it would certainly help. “It is not a thing where we are looking to catch people especially if the first positive is confidential and maybe it let’s the kids get counseling. But the other thing it does is give the kids a chance to say no. If they know they could be tested and they are in that situation, it is easier for them to say no because I could be tested. Where someone is not in extra curricular activities or any other activities, they are not going to get tested and they don’t have a reason to say no.”

The State of Iowa does not allow drug testing on high school students but Wagner said there are some gray areas. No motion was made by the school district and the topic will be discussed further.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released additional details about a high-speed chase that began Monday night in Griswold and ended early this (Tuesday) morning, in Page County. As we reported earlier today (Tuesday) a Cass County deputy attempted a traffic stop on a 2002 Chevy pickup on 550th Street in Griswold. A pursuit began when the driver of the vehicle refused to stop. The chase continued through Montgomery County into Page County where the vehicle wrecked and two subjects were apprehended at around 1:24-a.m.  The suspects were identified as 21-year old Johnathan Tyler McAlpin, of Red Oak, and 22-year old Alexandra Marie Sindt, of Griswold. The pair were found after a nearly 2-hour search. The State Patrol said they were suffering from hypothermia and were transported to a hospital for treatment before being taken to the Page County Jail.

Authorities in Montgomery County have charged McAlpin, who was driving the pickup, with felony Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree and Assault with a Deadly Weapon upon a Peace Officer, as the result of the alleged ramming of a police cruiser with the pursued vehicle.

Two cruisers were also rammed in Page County. Page County is charging McAlpin with several felonies, including two counts of Assault with Intent to Cause Serious Injury, Eluding, Criminal Mischief 1st Degree, Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree, and a serious misdemeanor charge of OWI 1st Offense. Sindt, who was a passenger in the vehicle,  is charged in Page County with Interference with Official Acts (Simple Misdemeanor). Traffic violations are forthcoming in Cass County in connection with the incident.