The Greene County board of education “bailed out” on the construction class house at its regular meeting July 16. With the house still not completed after two school years, the board instructed superintendent Tim Christensen to get bids from local contractors to finish the house.
Trim and cabinets are yet to be put up, and Christensen said he is unsure of the status of the heating/cooling. Chuck Wenthold, instructor of the class for the past two years, was not at the meeting. “It’s tough to sell a house that isn’t finished,” Christensen said.
The house on E. Wilcox Way was started by the high school construction class for the 2012-13 school year. The project was delayed starting and student numbers were short. Enrollment wasn’t much better this past year.
There are five students enrolled in the class for the coming school year. Christensen’s recommendation is that they work on smaller projects that would still involve the skills they would have learned building a house. “I think that’s fine as long as it’s spelled out,” said board member Teresa Hagen. “I don’t want it to be a shed that takes nine months… I don’t want to have the same problem but on a smaller scale,” she said.
“We’ll find things to build so they can take the class,” board president Sam Harding said. “Going on from there, we’ll have to decide… But I agree with Teresa. We can’t let little sheds take a year, either.”
Harding asked to see a written plan at the August meeting. “It’s close enough to when they’re going to start the plan should already be there, almost like a lesson plan.”
Wenthold is on deck to teach the construction class for the coming year. The board intends to evaluate the class and give full consideration to its long term future before registration for the 2015-16 school year.
