Board of Education members receive design layout for Career Tech classes
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By Amber Hayden
GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City Board of Education received a layout for Career Technology classrooms at the January 13 meeting.
Tim Johnson, district administrator, along with Patrick Gretzlock and Valerie Peterson of Wold Architects and Engineers, met with staff members Mike Wannemacher, Sean VanderWaal, and David Weikel to discuss the wants and needs for the CTE classrooms which include Agriculture, Foods, Metals and Wood classes.
“Valerie came to us with some conceptual designs of how we might solve some issues,” Johnson stated. “It is the start of dialog.”
The board of education has been in talks in recent meetings on how to spend the money in Fund 46, which has to be used for a community education project or invested.
During the recent discussions, the board talked about the possibility of a new baseball field, greenhouse, or classroom renovations for the CTE programs.
Johnson has asked the board of education to move forward with an advisory committee that would meet with Peterson to discuss the design, before coming back to the board with a recommendation on whether to move forward.
The renovations for the three classrooms would cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million with at least half of the cost taken up by the foods’ classroom design.
The current Ag classroom would have a wall removed, and it would be opened up to a metals area, according to Johnson, with the open area students would have access to equipment such as a plasma cutter.
The current Shop classroom with the overhead door would be renovated and turned into the new Ag classroom.
“Each area, metals, woods, and Ag, have a classroom component to it so that if they are working on something like processing jerky for a meat processing class, there can be instruction given and kids can then go to work,” Johnson explained.
The electrical panels would also be upgraded for the three rooms for all of the equipment.
As for the Foods classroom, it would see a complete redesign with all of the individual cabinets being removed, but would have a perimeter of work stations and stoves, a presentation area, and a little bit of an area for seating.
“It would be more of a counter and stool situation, so you aren’t at a lower table,” Johnson explained. “Maybe to do some of the chopping and then the students are going off to their work stations.”
The backside of the old high school office would be enclosed for storage of a pantry, freezer, refrigerator and other items.
If the foods area is redone, there would be a need for new exhaust vents which in turn would lead to new codes that would have to be met.
“If that happens we still have some roof top units that we didn’t change in the referendum,” explained Johnson. “All of this is preliminary to get a scope of a project.”
Board member Lori Klinger asked Johnson about adding the money they would get from sparsity aid to bring the total to over $1.5 million, but Johnson was hesitant.
“We may not be able to add as much into Fund 46,” Johnson explained in regards to the $280,000, roughly, they would be looking at for aid in the upcoming school year.
Currently Fund 46 has $1.2 million and earns .03 percent interest, Johnson stated.
If Glenwood City chooses to move forward with the renovations, they would begin in the summer of 2021 after planning in the spring and getting bids in the fall.