The Exira-and Elk Horn Kimballton School Districts’ Boards of Education held a joint meeting earlier this week. Superintendent Dean Schnoes said the boards talked about how things were going with the Whole Grade Sharing arrangement between the districts. He says none of the board members expressed any concerns, and they plan to continue moving forward with Whole Grade Sharing, because the arrangement is working well with both the teachers and students.

Schnoes said also the districts will continue with their 1-to-1 incentives with regard to computers, and will constantly keep working to bring the faculty members from both districts together on future projects. Schnoes says there may still be some adjustments on staffing, as far as placement is concerned, but there are no big changes planned for the immediate future.

He says the process has also begun on getting together the paperwork necessary, with the intent of having the districts reorganized by July 1^st, 2014. That’s the date when money for Whole Grade Sharing will run out. The districts can still Whole Grade Share, but Schnoes says there are no incentives after that point.

The next incentive would be to look at reorganization, because the tax rates would likely go down from $5.40 per thousand valuation, but a reorganized district would see those rates dropped to $4.40 per thousand for the first year, with incremental increases each year thereafter until it reaches $5.40 again, in the fourth year of organization. He says the goal is to have the petitions completed and vote taken by July 1^st, 2014 to make reorganization official.

Schnoes said the joint boards Monday also discussed the hiring of a business manager. There are three applicants for the job, with interviews slated for next week.

No injuries were reported when a Griswold Community School District bus and a pickup collided late Wednesday afternoon. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says the accident happened on 650th Street, about one-half mile south of Victoria Road. Officials say the northbound 2011 Freightliner school bus with 11 students on-board, was stopped when it was hit from behind by a pickup truck.

The driver of the pickup was identified as 39-year old Susan Mae Lane, of Griswold. Damage from the accident amounted to $7,000. No citations have been issued. The accident however, remains under investigation.

(9-a.m. News)