Four New Ankeny School Board Members to be Sworn In Monday

The Ankeny school district will hold two meetings on Monday, one of which will feature the swearing in of four new school board members.

Newcomers Dustin Graber, Brad Huss, Mike Rooney and Stephanie Jorgensen will be sworn in at the board’s 5 p.m. meeting on Monday. Trent Murphy, Aaron Johnson, Andrew Martin and Leslie Petersen in Tuesday’s school board election.

The district’s chief financial officer Craig Hansel, who will be acting as temporary board chairman, will swear in the four members.

Following the ceremony, board members will nominate and choose a board president and vice president, as well as re-appoint Hansel as board secretary and treasurer, said Ankeny Superintendent Matthew Wendt.

Among items on Monday night’s agenda will be a presentation to board members from Wendt regarding the possibility of a February 2012 bond referendum needed to complete the second construction phase of Southview Middle School.

“I will ask them if they want to pursue a bond referendum in February and, if they do, I will give them a timeline,” Wendt said. “We’ll be setting the stage for discussion of this in October.”

Also on Monday, an additional board meeting will be held with current members to finalize any old agenda items, Wendt said.

“This will be the last meeting of the current board,” Wendt said. “Most will call in by telephone and it’s likely to last about 15 minutes.”

Among the agenda items for the board to approve are second readings of several board policies, as well as approval of several student travel requests.

The board also will canvas Tuesday’s election results.