The Guthrie Center School Board met in regular session Monday.

Superintendent Steve Smith informed the Board that he will be interviewing the final candidates for the next football coach at AC/GC by the end of the week. Smith hopes to officially announce the new coach early next month. Last fall Mark McDermott resigned after four seasons at the helm for the Chargers.

The Board then continued their discussion on a key fob rental fee and public access to the gymnasium and weight room. The discussion brought up several potential protocol including: unlimited access versus limited hours, supervision, priority for school classes and events, and emergency equipment. The Board agreed a general fee plus a fee to rent a fob should be included in the annual membership, but did not take any action during the meeting.

Finally the Board discussed student achievement and class offerings. In referencing the most recent School Report Card from the Iowa Department of Education, Smith noted that the data for that metric won’t be accurate until the district has completed three years as a whole-grade sharing entity. Regardless of the numbers, Smith and the District are focused on getting students to their highest potential. “Can we expect more things from kids? Yeah, I think we can. I don’t think we ever want to quit pushing and trying to get more out of them.”

The Board discussed several class offerings, both current and possible future courses. Some of the classes discussed include: welding, nursing, criminal justice, composition, and college level Spanish. There will be no regularly scheduled meeting in February,as the next official meeting will be a joint session with the Adair-Casey Board on Thursday, February 22nd.