The District 205 Board of Education discussed, among many things, the ever-changing plan of attack for the buildings renovation project.
Several minutes were spent discussing the timetable for the high school, and the possibility of closing the building to complete the project in a year — as opposed to keeping the building under construction, but open, for two.
“The question is, do we want it to take two years or one? If you do it over two years, you can use part of the high school but [there are] some problems in terms of [power, water, and sewer.] Or, if you go one year, would mean vacate the high school,” said Superintendent Dr. John Asplund.
He said that there are lots of options on the table and choosing one could create or take away options down the road for a different school.
“There isn’t a right answer. There’s just… what do we value more?”
Board President Tianna Cervantez said that any untimely decision the board makes could impact the elementary and middle schools, equating the work to a district sized puzzle.
“All of these decisions are dominoes and affect every single other decision and how quickly or slowly we’re able to move on the other projects that we have going on. This is not just about one building. It is not just about one building’s staff. It is an entire district of puzzle pieces that we are trying to move around.”
Asplund added that for the sake of transparency, the board is looking at every option on the table in an open meeting and no options have been decided on.
“We’ve used this term before and we’ll continue to use it,” said Dr. Asplund. “We’re building the bridge as we walk on it.”
Related, several community members spoke out at the start of the meeting regarding a survey that was sent to seniors regarding the traditional date of graduation and the possibility of moving it.
Asplund said that the survey was sent out last year to seniors after concerns were expressed about moving it from the Memorial Day Weekend.
With the possibility of renovation work underway, the board wanted to give students a similar survey. Then, depending on the results of the survey, gauge parents and teacher’s views before possibly changing it.
He said that the decision of when to hold graduation falls on the building’s administration. He added that parents would receive more information in the near future.
Additionally, the board did approve two pieces of building work. The bid specifications for concrete, earthwork, and steel fabrication for King Elementary were approved. The board will decide on who to award the bids to next month with the goal of getting that work done early.
The board also approved a change order for Steele Elementary. A sewer line needed to be replaced and the low bid was awarded to Iron Hustlers for $32,000.
Check back to WGIL later for more stories regarding the school board meeting Monday night.
