Two southwest Iowa school districts will be looking to fill new positions after resignations.

The Panorama School District will be looking for a new transportation director.

The Guthrie Center Times reports Jim and Kelly Hummel resigned from their transportation duty positions on June 27.  Jim Hummel had served as transportation director while Kelly Hummel was transportation secretary.

Interviews are slated begin for a new transportation director.  The Guthrie Center Times reports that Panorama Schools superintendant Kathy Elliott says the transportation secretary position will not be filled.  Instead those duties will be split among other staff members.

In other resignation news, the Harlan School Board will have to replace a school board member.  The Board will meet this Monday to address that matter.

The Harlan School District office confirmed to KJAN news that school board member Jay Christensen is moving out of the district.  The board will have 30 days to fill his term which runs through September 2013.

A special election might have to be held to replace Christensen.

The Meeting of the Harlan School Board is this Monday at 4:30 in the Board Room at Harlan Community Schools.

Residents of Panora could see their water rates increase.

The Guthrie Center Times reports water rates could go up by about three percent.  The minimum charge in Panora for up to 3,000 gallons would increase a little more than a dollar to $32.61.  Officials say the increase is needed for the cost of upgrading the water plant.  Its unknown when the change in water rates might go into effect.

Federal environmental officials say Iowa is not properly regulating manure discharge permits for livestock confinement operations and must fix its procedures.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has failed in several cases to take timely enforcement actions against livestock facilities violating the Clean Water Act and it did not assess adequate penalties.

The EPA says Iowa does not have an adequate program to assess whether livestock operations need certain federal waste discharge permits.

The EPA says Iowa has about 7,000 animal feeding operations and must have a process that complies with federal law.

The state has 60 days to respond in writing on how it will correct the problems.

The EPA’s notice is in response to a petition filed by environmental groups.

The Exira Community School District is searching for a new middle school principal.

During Tuesday’s school board meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Lanny Kliefoth, who plans on becoming a high school principal in another western Iowa school district.  Exira Superintendant Dean Schnoes tells KJAN news that Kliefoth reported that the Nodaway Valley school board had their meeting Monday night and offered the position of high school principal to him, which he accepted.

Schnoes says wishes Kleinfoth the best as he continues to move up the ladder.  They had been discussing the move to Nodaway Valley for awhile before the Exira school board meeting Tuesday.  He says the move to the high school in a bigger district was something Kleinfoth was looking for in his career.

Schnoes says the search for a replacement principal at the Exira middle school has begun and the board would like to have something done within the next week.