The Greene County Schools board at the Feb. 17 regular meeting ended months of discussion about the future of the former middle school and the attached gymnasium, the Home of the Rams.
The board approved a letter of intent to sell the three-story school to Nate Adams, doing business as NGA Ventures LLC, for $1. Adams will then repurpose the building as 25 apartments, with five of them meeting the criteria of being “affordable.”
Adams told the board at the work session preceding the regular meeting that he has signed a contract with an architect and with a historic consultant to assist in meeting requirements for historic tax credits. He has also selected a contractor.
He has identified funding sources for the $6 million project, but said it will take the rest of 2021 to secure the funds.
The vote to sell the building was not unanimous. Board member Catherine Wilson did not comment during the discussion, but upon voting nay, she said she wasn’t against the proposal, but that she represents the community, and she was voting on behalf of those who oppose the project.
The board also voted to raze the gymnasium and the corridor that connects it to the school, and to accept the low bid of $149,750 from Murphy Construction for the demolition.
Much of the discussion about Adams’ proposed project over the months had to do with the gym. Adams told the board last summer there was no place in the project for the gym, that there was no business model that would support the gym, and that removing it from the property was a critical part of the project.
Disconnecting the gym from the school and operating it as a separate building would have required a new HVAC system, and the gym would have needed a new roof soon. Costs for those projects were estimated at $2 million. School activities director Todd Gordon said that with the work done at the current middle school gym, the district would have no use for the 1956 gym.
School superintendent Tim Christensen said there are a couple of school groups looking into selling pieces of the gym floor as keepsakes.
The vote on the motion to raze the gym was also 4-1, with Wilson dissenting.
Wilson’s was again a voice of opposition on the next agenda item, which was listed as “Covid mitigation efforts, mask mandate, etc.”
Wilson asked if administration and the school board have an “end game” for the mask mandate.
“My plan would be to follow the experts, and when public health says we can get rid of the mask mandate, that’s the time to do it,” answered board president and retired physician Steve Karber. He said the mask mandate has been effective, and that it needs to be continued until all the teachers who want to be vaccinated have received the needed vaccines.
Wilson challenged Karber, noting a 3.6 percent Covid testing positivity rate in the county, and asking if the school needs to get to 0 percent before students are allowed not to wear masks. Karber met her challenge, saying that when the county maintains 0 percent positivity for 4-6 weeks, it would be time to end the mandate.
Greene County public health director Becky Wolf spoke to the board remotely. (Wilson also attended the meeting remotely, along with administrators, teachers, and members of the community.) Wolf said she’s proud of where the positivity rate is now, “but this is no place to stop… We’re just rolling out our vaccination efforts. That’s going to take months. And there’s concern recently by the CDC and other entities about mutations and variants of the virus that are more infectious than what we’ve been dealing with. That’s why the message is that we can’t become complacent.”
She said there is no timeline for when mitigation efforts can end. “This is all very fluid, and we all have to stick together and be patient with what we’re doing. I know people are sick of it, but if we start sending mixed messages to people, it’s going to make more issues,” Wolf said.
Christensen reported that to date, 147 staff members had received the first dose of vaccine. That includes some frequent substitutes. All staff have been offered the vaccine; about two-thirds have accepted it.
The board set March 10 as the date for a public hearing on the calendar for 2021-22. Christensen presented two possible calendars, one with a full day of professional development for teachers each month, and one with full days of PD only at the beginning and end of the school year, and with an early student dismissal every Wednesday.
He said a staff survey showed more than 60 percent of teachers preferred full days of PD, so that’s the calendar that will be the subject of the public hearing.
The calendar names Aug. 23, 2021, as the first attendance day for K-12 students. The last day for students in grades K-8 will be May 20, 2022, with high school students going another week to May 27.
During the reports portion of the meeting, reading specialist Julie Neal reported that Greene County Schools have higher percentages of students making growth in reading than other districts in Prairie Lakes AEA and scores are above the state average as well. “We’re right in there, so that’s good news,” she said.
Activities director Gordon noted that the state wrestling tournament would start the next day, bringing the winter sports season to an end. He thanked coaches, student athletes, the school, parents, and the community who helped get athletes through the season. “I’m very grateful for the cooperation we had at our events. Nobody liked doing what we had to do,” he said.
Gordon also reported the school hosted an Iowa High School Music Association jazz choir contest Feb. 8, the first public event in the new auditorium, and a concert was held that Thursday. “The new home is starting to feel like a new home…. We’re grateful to have the facility, and our directors are grateful as well,” he said.
Building and grounds director Shawn DeMoss said snow removal was going “the best it can.” He said the siting of the high school has been a challenge because of the wind, the open space surrounding the school, and the north entryway. He’s looking at options for prairie grass plantings in various locations at the high school to “catch” some of the snow. Superintendent Christensen mentioned planting trees in strategic locations as well.
