Last week’s early season storm forced the closure of school in the area for three straight days. Wednesday night, the Belle Plaine Board of Education learned how the district will make up those missed days.
Superintendent Bill Lynch told the board that school will be in session on Jan. 18. This day had originally been set aside as either a snow make-up day or a day off. The district will count two Fridays of parent-teacher conferences as school days. Lynch explained that the district calendar had included 182 days of classes, two over the state minimum. He also added that any other days lost to bad weather will be made up at the end of the 2009-2010 school year.
A regular report on the progress of construction for the district building projects drew considerable discussion as architect John Darveau presented several change orders for board approval. These change orders will add several thousand dollars to the original cost of the project and are the latest in a list of several change orders the board has considered over the past several months.
Board members questioned why several of the change orders were necessary and whether the architect or contractor should have included some of these costs in their original bids. Two of the larger items were $12,007 for extra fill and $21,860 for the removal of rubble and fill, both in the geothermal well field area south of Longfellow School.
Darveau explained that the additional fill was needed due to the composition of the soil in the area and problems with compaction for the area which will be paved for a parking lot. The rubble was discovered from a demolished building. Darveau said he knew a building had been somewhere in that area in past years, but it was not learned that the remnants were buried on the site until the project was underway.
A contingency fund was incorporated into the original bid to take care of such unforeseen costs, but a growing percentage of that fund is being used for the change orders. In the end, the board approved most of the change order requests on a 3-2 vote, with Joyce Livermore and Jim Pierce opposing the motion.
The board approved two retirement requests. Cindy Arens, a first grade teacher with 35 years of experience with the district, will retire after the end of this school year. During her tenure, she has had nine different teaching assignments and board member Marie Stratford commended her for her willingness to accept so many different assignments during her career.
Kenny Bevins resigned as a route bus driver after nearly 30 years of service to the district. He cited family health issues in his decision to end his employment as of Dec. 1.
The board approved a five-year lease of a copier from Business Systems, Inc. for the administration office after considering two bids and whether to acquire a color or black and white copier. The lease will cost $290.60 per month, compared to an expiring lease of $351.84. Board members decided to wait on the possible purchase or lease of a color copier until some of the other copier leases come up in May. By that time, it is hoped it will be determined whether the administration offices will remain at the Longfellow building or be moved, perhaps to the junior high building, which will be vacated when the new construction is completed.
The board also heard a report from Livermore and board member Mike Bachelder, who attended the recent Iowa School Board Association convention in Des Moines. Livermore said convention delegates indicated that the shrinking state budget and how it affects state aid to schools was a major concern. There was also discussion of a proposal to mandate that students remain in school until the age of 18. She also said she visited with a board member from another district that initiated a sharing agreement with a neighboring district by combining some sports teams first, then looking at academic sharing possibilities. She said that board member said that was not the best way to go and his district should have looked at the academic side first.
Bachelder said he attended sessions regarding cell phone use by students in school, academic assessment tools and evaluation of coaches. The person conducting the cell phone seminar urged districts not to totally ban cell phones from the schools, but to closely monitor their use. He said he learned that coaches can be evaluated just like teachers, a plan that the local district is implementing.