The Iowa Falls School Board approved several staffing and curriculum changes during its Tuesday meeting, including the return of middle school industrial technology courses.
Superintendent Tony Neumann said the board approved hiring Jared Ites as its middle school industrial technology teacher, reviving a program that had been discontinued after the district was unable to find applicants following a retirement a few years ago. District officials are now exploring options to continue meeting state computer science requirements after the departure of the current STEAM teacher.
Board members also discussed ongoing work to establish formal board goals, with another work session planned in June. A representative of the Iowa Association of School Boards is expected to assist later this summer.
The board approved contracts for next school year, including a 4% increase for salaried employees and a 4.2% increase for hourly staff based on position base pay. Members approved a new high school English/language arts and math curriculum and also approved the list of Iowa Valley Community College courses available to students through shared programming agreements.
