Good news on construction projects, and board okays early retirement policy
The Greene County Schools board has yet to decide the fate of the 1921 high school and the 1952 gymnasium attached to it. Neither are needed with the construction of the new high school on Grimmell Road. A public hearing on the disposition of those buildings was held at the October regular board meeting. No decision was made, but razing the gym seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Discussion is ongoing with developer Nate Adams, who hopes to repurpose the school as upscale apartments. He would take possession of the 1921 building for an amount not yet disclosed. Asbestos needs to be removed before the building can change hands. Superintendent Tim Christensen reported to the board at the Nov. 18 regular meeting that he received bids ranging from $93,000 to $174,000 for asbestos removal. He anticipated bids in the $100,000 range.
He said he’s meeting next week with Adams, the low bidder on the asbestos removal, and Adams’ engineer for the project for the purpose of writing demolition specs. He hopes to have costs of demolition for the December board meeting, “so we can have those conversations.”
Board president Steve Fisher asked, “The demolition we’re going to do is just going to be detaching the two buildings?”
Christensen said it would be demolition of the hallway that connects the two buildings, as well as the gym.
“So you’re talking about the gym? Did we decide we’re going to do that?” Fisher responded.
Board member Steve Karber, who is on the building committee, answered the board asked for numbers to know what it would cost. No firm numbers are being sought on keeping the gym. Adams and Christensen have estimated costs of up to $1 million for a new HVAC system and other needed work.
The update on construction of the new high school and the repurposed middle school provided good news. Sam Harding, owner’s rep for the project, said crews are making “really good progress” on the high school auditorium and are on schedule to be finished Dec. 1.
He said a crew has taken advantage of not having students in the building to power wash the precast concrete inside the building. “The precast is starting to really look nice. I didn’t realize just how much dust had blown on it and stuck to it from the time it got put up till now… It looked great before. Now it looks really great,” Harding said.
The weight room is finished now, too. Power Lift donated the equipment. “It looks fabulous. It’s a great room, with all the lighting and the equipment. It’s going to be a great place for our kids to work out,” he said.
Work on the middle school is also going well. The gym floor is nearly finished. The bleachers are still delayed, but with middle school sports on hold due to Covid-19, Harding hopes the bleachers will arrive in time for competition. The wrestling room is finished, except for the floors.
The main administration office is also near completion. He anticipates all work at the middle school will be finished by Dec. 1.
During the administrators’ reports, every school principal thanked their staff and praised their efforts during the pandemic. Elementary principal Scott Johnson said there has been “a huge effort by everybody.” He said it’s been a challenge to keep elementary students in masks.
Middle school principal Shawn Zanders said his staff will refocus their efforts to assure students are wearing masks and using hand sanitizer at key times.
He said, “at the risk of looking like a ‘butt kisser’”, that he wanted to thank superintendent Christensen for his leadership since the pandemic hit Iowa. “I can’t imagine being in his position and having to coordinate all of this, and keep all of you folks happy, and keep the teachers happy and keep the parents happy…. All in all, I think we’ve had a positive experience, we’ve learned a lot. Sometimes we’ve learned what not to do, but we’ve learned together, and I think we’re a better organization for having gone through it.”
High school principal Brian Phillips said he doesn’t anticipate issues from students with the mask mandate. He reported that the last three weeks or so, “for the most part, most kids are wearing masks most of the time.”
After the administrators’ reports, the “old” board adjourned and the “new” board held an organizational meeting. There was no change in board members, as school elections are now held during the November general election in odd-numbered years.
The board followed past practice and elected vice-president Steve Karber and president. Catherine Wilson was elected as board vice-president. Board secretary Brenda Muir administered oaths of office, and Karber presided at the remainder of the meeting.
The board approved a voluntary retirement policy similar to what has been used in the past several years. Staff members who are at least 55 years old and have worked for the district for at least 10 years are eligible to apply for early retirement. Early retirees will receive a cash payment equal to 45 percent of their current contracted salary, without coach’s pay or teacher supplemental pay. Applications are due by Jan. 13, 2021.
The board allocated up to $200,000 for the program. Christensen said early retirement is a financial tool the district can use. Teachers at the top of the salary schedule are replaced with younger teachers at less cost. The cash payments come from the district’s management fund, not the general fund.
Christensen said that although enrollment declined by 41 students, he is not talking about eliminating teaching positions. “We’ll do this first… People are stressed out to the maximum right now. I don’t want to add anything unless we know for sure. If we can hold out and find out if there are teachers who are going to retire, or if they (the state) will do some financial things to help us out. I don’t want to put out there that we’re going to cut anything. I don’t want to go there.’
The board approved change orders for the high school/middle school construction projects. Change orders totaled $62,228. The largest single item was reimbursing the general contractor $24,990 for utility costs that were billed to that company after the high school was put into use. Those bills should have gone to the school district.
With the entire project very near completion, the total cost stands at $31,217,511. Budgeted cost was $31,223,000. If there are no more change orders, the project will be completed $5,489 under budget.
Optimistically, the board approved two student fundraisers: the junior class chili supper, slated for Jan. 29, and the NHS half-court hoop shoots at home basketball games.
