The Greene County School Board held a public question and answer meeting Monday night at the Scranton Community Center.

Most of the topics centered around the possible bond referendum for a new high school and regional academy. One question was about the cost of building a new school. The Board wasn’t settled on a figure since they don’t know how the buildings will look like, but one figure that was mentioned was $25 million. One suggestion was to use the existing high school and connect the regional academy to it. However, Iowa Central Community College, which is committed to the project if the bond passes, has requested the campus be placed by the intersection of highways 30 and 4 for visibility purposes.

The Board also talked about a timeline leading up to an April bond. The next 6-8 weeks, a committee plans on having several community input meetings to see what community members want the new buildings to look like. Then in January, the architect firm, OPN Architects, will come back to the Board with preliminary concept drawings of the buildings, along with preliminary costs.

Another topic that was discussed was on evaluations of teachers. Greene County School District adopted the same procedure that the state has required, which is a probationary period for a new hire, then every teacher will have a formal evaluation every three years of employment with the district. Each School Board member has committed to visiting each of the three school buildings every trimester to give more visibility to the students and staff of the district and exposure to see what is happening in each building.

The next Board Q&A Session will take place January 22nd at the Grand Junction Community Center. Board members will rotate for each meeting. At Monday’s meeting in Scranton, Board President Dr. Mark Peters, Vice-President John McConnell and board member Dr. Steve Karber participated.