Board receives update on school construction

In its first meeting of the New Year, the Holton school board started Monday’s meeting by discussing a district project that now has an end in sight.

With the calendar turning to 2016, that means construction on the new elementary building project will be wrapping up this year with plans to be operational for the 2016-2017 school year.

There is still plenty of work to do, though, and Michael Feamster of Nabholz was on hand at Monday’s meeting to discuss some of the scheduling and continuing work with the school board.

Currently, the builders have been working on six-week look ahead and milestone schedules, but Feamster said a master schedule will be down this week and that will give a better sense of the project timeline, showing what’s ahead of schedule, what’s behind and what’s right on track.

As far as on-site work, Feamster noted utilities like sanitation and water have been set up on the north end with work on electrical and fiber optic to start this week.

Masonry has begun on internal walls and restrooms, while Feamser also said the steelwork on the north stairs is being finalized with the bulk of that work overall being done.

Roofing work was supposed to commence Tuesday and the first sub-task to be handled is the gym because of its perforated sheet roofing, with the goal of wrapping up that project on Jan. 25.

In addition to the progress report, Feamster discussed the commission bidding process with the board and noted that Nabholz is working to clarify the prices and make sure there are no changes made by sub-contractors, something numerous board members raised concerns about.

Attention is starting to turn to what will be going inside the new elementary building as well, with the board discussing alternate bids for other parts of the project. Superintendent Dennis Stones noted that due to the lack of early hiccups with the project, the district has almost all of its contingency funds for the project and can use that to address some of the items that were cut out during initial planning.

While the board agreed to table most of that discussion until February’s meeting, Feamster said he needed a decision on locker cabinets in the classrooms in order for shop drawings to be made up in order to get those installed on time. The board approved the purchase of locker cabinets for a total price of $54,455.

Several board members had questions about the moving schedule, asking about priorities for the buildings and how that is being handled. Stones noted teachers at the Colorado school are moving items out of their rooms gradually, using space at the old Fair building for storage, in order to remain on schedule.

“We’re trying to get everything out as the year progresses. We don’t want to hold up the demolition of the place,” Stones said.

That demolition is set to take place in the summer in order to proceed with work on the playground and parking area at the new elementary building. Stones suggested creating a few extra work days at the end of the year to allow for moving as well as potentially seeking out volunteers to help the district employees.

After focusing on a new building, the board shifted focus to a potential new pre-school program in the district, with Stones sharing the information gathered at a recent community meeting.

Following that input, Stones recommended that the board look into starting a district preschool with one classroom for 40 students to meet four days a week and charging $115/student per month (which includes transportation and snacks).

Students with special education needs could potentially have pro-rated costs, with the district offering services to those students if they enroll or not, Stones said. In addition, he noted the district is looking into a grant for the program that could provide between $25,000 and $200,000 for the new school.

While Stones said it is unlikely Holton would get the full amount of that grant, he noted even $25,000 would help in creating scholarships to encourage enrollment in a district preschool.

The board then approved pre-enrollment for district pre-kindergarten.

Other business addressed by the school board included:

*Heard a report from Holton students Sydney McRae (HHS), Michaela Adcock (HHS), Taylor Moore (HMS) and Macy Gross (HMS) on a collaborative project between one of Keri Miller’s sixth-grade English classes and students in Cullen Jackson’s high school graphic arts program.

The students worked together to create a book illustrating a story Miller’s sixth-grade class wrote earlier in the school year, with the high school students utilizing Photoshop and special drawing tablets to handle the design.

Students present described what it was like working together, with HMS principal Michael Kimberlin also presenting a video, and they also passed around some of the completed books for the board to see.

*Approved the consent agenda including approval of minutes from the previous meeting, bills, payroll and the following personnel decisions.

*Approved the hiring of Megan Perkuhn (Axtell IRC teacher) and Tanya Ahlgren (JHES SPED para).

*Approved the resignations of Audrey Etzel (HMS secretary), Melody Boltz (Central, part-time cook), Shirley Stauffer (HMS cook), David Ashcraft (HMS asst. football coach) and Brian Hickman (HMS head football coach).

*Approved BOE policy changes as recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards.

*Received new BOE policies from the KASB for review.

*Approved a bid for Prestige Velour (25 oz.) and Plateau Velour (13 oz.) curtains from Allied Theatre (Kansas City, Mo.) for the high school auditorium at a cost of up to $12,500. The original bid received was for $10,670, but HHS principal Rod Wittmer noted there may need to be a few final alterations (i.e. color).

The board received one other bid from Theatrical Services (Wichita) for a base cost of $15,159.

*Met in executive session for a total of 90 minutes to discuss teacher salary negotiations and matters pertaining to non-elected personnel.

*Noted the absence of board member Allen Arnold.

*Adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m.