JH board agrees to delay track payment until work is complete

The Jackson Heights USD 335 Board of Education on Monday agreed to withhold part of the payment to the Wichita firm involved in the high school football field and track reconstruction project pending completion of the work to the board’s satisfaction.

District Superintendent and Elementary Principal Adrianne Walsh said a representative of United Sport Systems is looking at getting the work on the track and field done within a month, reminding the board that Foster “wants you guys to be happy” with the work. The project, approved by the board in June at a cost of roughly $420,000, was originally slated to be done by the end of August.

However, weather and other factors have held up the project’s full completion, although the track is currently in use and a few games have been played on the football field since the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. Still, board members agreed to withhold about $15,000 of the final payment to United Sport Systems until the work — mainly dirt work — is done.

“The work’s not done, and they’re not done, so I don’t see us approving anything until it’s all done,” board member Kelly Kennedy said. “They’ve had opportunities to do it… We explained to them pretty clearly what we wanted done.”

Board member Melinda Wareham agreed, adding that Brian Foster of United Sport Systems would “finish it to our satisfaction.”

“I think he will, because of his reputation, and he wants good feedback from us,” Wareham said. “A lot of it has gone very, very well. We have a nice looking track.”

Walsh asked board members to approve the final payment to United so that the firm would get the payment as soon as the work is done, rather than having to wait until November to get it. She added that the United representative estimated that it would take “about four hours of work” for the project to be complete.

Some members of the board had conducted a “walk-through” of the work in recent days, and noted some areas where more dirt work was needed on the field. Board member Neal Keeler noted that United had put more dirt in the field’s end zones, mainly to alleviate some settling, but there was still some work to be done.

Other football field and track-related action at Monday’s meeting involved the extension of concrete sidwalks on the home side of the field, as well as estimates for fencing around the field. Board members had discussed the possibility of fencing around the field at their September meeting, and Walsh said she felt further discussion was necessary before making a decision on the fence.

The board approved an estimate of $4,680 from Lamberson Construction of Netawaka for the concrete work and an $8,800 estimate from Atchison Fence of Atchison for installation of 800 feet of four-foot tall, commercial-grade fence with a 12-foot wide gate for vehicles and two four-foot walk-in gates. Walsh said a representative of Lamberson Construction estimated the concrete work could be completed within the next two weeks.

In other business on Monday, the board:

* Approved the meeting’s agenda and consent agenda, the latter including minutes from the board’s September meeting, monthly bills and activity account reports and acceptance of a $1,000 grant award from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

* Approved a request from JHHS agriculture instructor and FFA advisor Paul Lierz for the use of two district vehicles to take FFA members to the organization’s national conference in Louisville, Ky. Lierz said two vehicles were needed due to the participation of 10 FFA students and two chaperones, including Lierz, in this year’s trip.

* Discussed issues with a district-owned truck with transportation director Loren Edwards, who said the truck “needs a lot of work.” Walsh said the 2001 model Ford truck was currently valued at $5,000, and a repair estimate from Foster Ford of Holton came in at $5,200 for steering, transmission and differential work. Edwards said the truck was used for “moving furniture and boxes” as well as snow removal in winter.

* Approved a list of district goals and priorities for the 2015-16 school year.

* Heard a report from Walsh about district ACT test scores and asked board members whether they would be interested in the purchase of an online test prep program that would help students in the district boost their test scores.

* Heard a report from Walsh about letters sent by elementary school students to military veterans who participated in the recent Honor Flight, as well as the “absolutely ecstatic” response by those students upon receiving replies from the veterans. She also noted that veterans who participated in the recent flight have donated “several hundred dollars” to the program and added that some of them may participate in a Veterans’ Day program set for Nov. 24.

* Received a report from Walsh on updated enrollment numbers for the 2015-16 school year. The 2015-16 district count of 404 students, including 223 elementary (pre-kindergarten through sixth grade) and 181 middle and high school students, was 10 less than the 2014-15 enrollment count, which included 214 elementary students and 200 middle and high school students.

* Heard a preliminary report from Walsh on Kansas State Assessment Test performance levels, noting that she was “surprised overall” with the performance of district students on the most recent tests. More detailed information on test scores will be prepared for the November meeting, she said.

* Received the elementary principal’s report from Walsh, including classroom activities, such as a fifth-grade “museum” and STEM-related activities at the kindergarten level; upcoming activities, including a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten trip to Renyer’s Pumpkin Patch, Student Council activities including pre-school small group rotations, a middle school concert on Oct. 27 and Family Literacy Night on Oct. 5; and staff professional development activities with keyboarding for children in third through sixth grades, on-demand writing and state assessments.

* Heard a presentation from Middle and High School Principal Darren Shupe on an upcoming KSHSAA fall regional administrator and board of education meeting, which he plans to attend. Shupe said some key issues to be discussed include district eligibility for homeschooled students, summer sports camps and student enrollment limits for eight-man football.

* Heard a report from Shupe on middle and high school activities, including the start of middle school girls basketball practice, high school student participation in Washburn Tech courses, an upcoming Highland Community College career fair, seventh-grade girls’ attendance at the Women in Science Day at Washburn University, and upcoming sports events and parent-teacher conferences.

* Met in executive sessions for a total of 35 minutes to discuss personnel matters. No action resulted from the session.

* Adjourned the meeting at approximately 9:45 p.m. All board members were present, including David Allen (president), Keeler, Kennedy, Wareham, Doug Amon, Konrad Coe and Ed Rostetter.