KEEP NISSWA SCHOOL OPEN

About a hunderd Nisswa-area citizens met Monday night at Grand View Lodge to talk about why Nisswa Elementary should be kept open. Last Wednesday's Brainerd School Board meeting featured ways to trim next year's budget and one of them was to close Nisswa Elementary. Closing the school could save the district $150,000 in transportation costs every year plus the cost of operating the school, roughly $1.2-Million. "Keep Nisswa School Open" spokeswoman Amy Gitchell said the school has a modernized air system, updated playground equipment and room for more students and shouldn't be closed. Brainerd Superintendent Jerry Walseth will finalize his recommendations to the board a week from Thursday on November 29th. The Brainerd school board has to trim nearly $6-Million dollars from its budget by next June. The group will hold a second meeting at Grand View Lodge Tuesday night at 7:30pm. Gitchell said Nisswa residents have nine days to convince school officials to keep the elementary school open.