In light of recent school shooting incidents and threats, the Atlantic Middle and Elementary Schools will be conducting more ALICE training, just as they do with Fire and Tornado Warning exercises. Schuler Principal James Northwick and Middle School Principal Josh Rasmussen told the Atlantic School Board during their meeting, Wednesday, that they are working with the Police Department to conduct annual ALICE training. ALICE stands for Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter and Evacuate.

Northwick and Rasmussen have been working with Atlantic Police Lt. Devin Hogue and Sgt. Spencer Walton, about running a drill, similar to what was done last year, at the High School. Northwick said at Schuler, it’ll will look like more of a “Glorified fire drill,” with a video and Q&A session afterward. Rassmussen said the District’s staff have all been trained using the ALICE system. The students have fire drills and tornado drills twice each semester. He says it’s up to himself and Northwick to prepare their respective buildings the best they can, to make sure they have a safe environment.

Superintendent Steve Barber said the Iowa House is working on a School Security Bill. Barber said also, that at a recent SIAC (School Improvement Advisory Committee) meeting, they talked about how important communication is when a threat is perceived or real. He said the gist of the meeting, was that “If something looks out of the ordinary we have got to communicate that to the right people and that can be investigated to see if there is a danger or if someone needs help and we can provide that at that time. I think those are some important components to a security plan. Our number one goal is to keep everybody safe.”

School Board member Josh McLaren, who is also a Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy, said law enforcement officers held intruder/active shooter-type exercises Monday and Tuesday, at the Middle School. He said “It’s obviously something that is on our mind as well as educators and administrators and everybody else. From a cop standpoint, we’re trying to stay as prepared as we can.” Yesterday (Wednesday) was designated for a nationwide peaceful walkout to show respect for those who have lost their lives in the Parkland, Florida school shooting. Atlantic Administrators said there were about 30 students who participated in the event, at the High School.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Des Moines school board member has left the Democratic field of candidates for governor. The Des Moines Register reports that Jon Neiderbach acknowledged Wednesday that his campaign didn’t really get off the ground, saying in a Facebook post, “I have not garnered the support to justify continuing my campaign.” The announcement came two days before the deadline for submitting petitions to qualify for the June primary ballot.

Six candidates remain: Nate Boulton, Cathy Glasson, Fred Hubbell, Andy McGuire, John Norris and Ross Wilburn. The Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, intends to run.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say firefighters have helped three people from a burning house in Waterloo. The fire was reported a little after 4 a.m. Thursday. Two people who saw the smoke followed it to the home and tried to use a garden house on the flames after they called 911. At least one of the three occupants was taken to a hospital. Their names haven’t been released. The fire cause is being investigated.

Police in Creston report 38-year old KImberly Morgan, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday afternoon, on two Union County warrants charging her with seven counts of Compulsory Education Violation, and Failure to Appear in court on the original seven counts of Compulsory Education Violation. Morgan was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $600 bond.

And, 20-year old Jordan McElroy, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday night for Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding blood or air flow. McElroy was being held in the Union County Jail, while awaiting a bond hearing.

Red Oak Police report two juveniles were arrested at around 2-p.m. Wednesday, for Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree. Authorities say several ceiling tiles in the High School boys restroom were destroyed and taken down from the ceiling. Officials said “The two juveniles had no right or privilege to destroy the property,” that was valued at about $450. The youth were cited into juvenile court and released to the custody of their parents.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors have filed a murder charge against a man suspected of breaking into a suburban Des Moines home and stabbing a resident. Court records say 19-year-old Magai Anai-Kur, of Des Moines, also is charged with burglary, robbery and theft. The murder charge approved by a Polk County district judge Tuesday replaced a charge of attempted murder that was filed before 77-year-old Robert Howe died in January. Police say he was stabbed on Sept. 3 when Anai-Kur broke into Howe’s Urbandale home and then stole Howe’s minivan.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education discussed but took no action on, the 2018-19 School Calendar. The discussion was held during the Board’s regular monthly meeting, Wednesday evening, at the High School. Superintendent Steve Barber said a committee was formed and two calendars were provided to staff in each of the District’s buildings, for feedback. Barber said there were some challenges, given that the first allowable start date is Aug. 23rd, 2018, the final day for school using the current calendar would be the Friday before Memorial Day. 20 instructional hours were missed on the current calendar to date, due the weather, with total being 1,073. This year, the district will add the 25th as a student day, and other small tweaks to the calendar to meet the requirement. Any additional weather delays will result in the make-up of additional instructional hours.The 2018-19 School Calendar would be different from 2017-18, in that First Semester will have students in school on Dec. 21st. Last year, they did not have school on the Friday before break.

The committee thought having Martin Luther King as a professional development day, was too close to the extended break. They agreed President’s Day would be a better time for Professional Development. The committee calendar discussion also included moving spring conferences to later in the school year, or make sure the P/T Conference is the only activity on two evenings. District staff were split 50-50 with regard to changing the week-long break to an extended break around the time of Easter. By doing that, officials say they were able to increase the number of instructional hours in the schedule to create more flexibility with the hours.

School Board member Kristy Pellett said she was asked recently, “What communication happened with the pre-schools in town, in terms of having the calendars coincide somewhat concurrently with their calendars. Board President Alison Bruckner said the preschools “They just usually tie to our calendar. The biggest impact that they usually do, is conferences. Superintendent Barber acknowledged he had not reached out to the YMCA or Little Lambs. He said “I didn’t have a conversation with either of those.” Pellett said the concerns were related more to what was going on this year, with schedules not being aligned, that causes transportation issues and so on. Steve Barber said he will take the suggestions back to the committee and see if there are any tweaks that can be made. He and Pellett both admitted, there’s no way to make everyone happy. Pellett said it would be nice to have consistency year-to-year, when possible. A Public Hearing on the 2018-19 School Calendar will be held during the Board’s regular meeting on April 11^th.

In other business, the Board approved Resolutions pertaining to: the 2018-19 Budget Guarantee, in the amount of $217,766; A PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) in the amount of $152,452, or .33-cents per thousand dollars assessed valuation, and, a 2018-19 Fund Transfer of $8,000, from General to Activity, for Protective Equipment.