The Pella School Board held their annual organizational meeting Monday afternoon. The board re-elected Joan Corbin as president and Tim Tripp as vice president.

A public hearing was held to review the process for the school calendar, with approval given for a recommendation to continue counting instruction hours when drafting the schedule. The board also reviewed administrators’ reports, the district’s Title IV response policy, and the 400 series in the district handbook. A work session was held to hear a presentation about the status of the budget heading into the next fiscal year.

Following regular business, the board discussed the district’s learning plan and the latest absentee data due to COVID-19. The district will remain in person for now, but Superintendent Greg Ebeling discussed there are significant challenges with staffing, and if too many teachers miss, they may have to go to virtual. Ebeling says the district is in close contact with Pella Regional to evaluate their needs — while closing school may help with a surge in patients, hospital leaders have told school district leaders they have doctors and nurses with multiple kids in the district, and having those students move home could complicate the availability of some staff, so it’s a fine balance the district is trying to maintain.