(Radio Iowa) – Fundraising is underway to help refugees settle in central Iowa this year. The U-S Committee for Refugees and Immigrants field office in Des Moines is expecting an influx of refugees in the area after President Biden promised to increase the refugee cap. Even though he hasn’t signed the determination yet, the state should still prepare, according to Kerri True-Funk, the committee’s Des Moines director. “Due to the pandemic, things have been a little bit slow,” True-Funk says, “but we are anticipating as vaccination efforts worldwide are being undertaken and the determination ceiling goes up, that we will get new arriving refugee families.”

True-Funk expects they’ll help settle more than last year’s 75 refugees in central Iowa, but doubts they’ll reach the record of more than 660 refugees set in 2016. “But I do anticipate that, especially as vaccinations roll out and mitigation efforts continue, that the numbers will start to come up,” she says. The organization is raising money to buy mattresses for the expected refugees and ten-percent of the goal has been met so far.

(reporting by Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)

The CAM School District’s Board of Education, Monday, opted to discontinue a Business Manager with the Atlantic School District for the upcoming school year, and instead share the position with the Nodaway Valley Community School District. The agreement, effective for the 21-22 School Year, is a 50/50 cost share, at $58,328.

Also during their meeting, Monday, the CAM School Board set April 12^th at 6:30-p.m., as the date and time for a Public Hearing on the 2021-22 School Calendar, which has the first day of school set for Aug. 23^rd 2021, and Graduation as May 25, 2022. The hearing will take place in the Superintendent‘s Office.

The Board also approved a 21 member school facilities committee, which will be tasked with reviewing the discussion process that began over a year ago, with architects. The committee will set the dates for community meetings on the facilities project. Community input will be received during the process to help the district in make sound decisions for students’ future education.

Police in Creston, Tuesday afternoon, arrested a man at his home, on a Union County warrant. 20-year-old Montell Mario Rivers was taken into custody on a warrant for Child Endangerment with Serious Injury. Rivers was being held in the Union County Jail on a $10,000 bond.