By Sam Parsons

The Pella Community School Board met last night and held a public hearing on their certified budget process. The property tax rate was maintained at $14.60 per $1,000 of valuation, and it was noted that valuations have increased by 1.73% overall in the past year.

The board also approved summer projects for technology hardware, software licensing, transportation, and maintenance using funds from the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) and Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) revenues. A total of $1.127 million in projects using PPEL funds was approved.

Additionally, the board approved an operational sharing agreement with the Lynnville-Sully school district to share facilities management services.

And the board discussed interviews for their high school principal position, revealing that there are two finalists remaining for the position: Josh Manning, the principal of Pella Middle School, and Shawn Zanders, a middle school principal in Greene County.

The next Pella School Board meeting will be held on April 24.