Elk Mound Board of Education nears closing of bid process for referendum projects
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By Cara Dempski
ELK MOUND — The Board of Education for the Elk Mound Area School District learned at its November 16 meeting that construction bids, for work to be done as part of the referendum projects, were expected to be submitted prior to December 17 and December 22, 2020. The deadline for the bid differs depending on the “Bid Package”.
Meeting attendees were shown renderings of the proposed work to be done in the high school and middle school facilities. Both the board members and the public had the opportunity to look at what the new band room and technical education areas will look like at the high school, and what the new classrooms will look like at the middle school and the new gymnasium.
There will be three classrooms constructed in the space that is the current middle school gymnasium, with the new gym being constructed where the middle school music room currently sits.
There will also be a new secure entry on the west side of the building, facing out onto what is known as “the battlefield”. The technical education room at the high school will feature a new fabrication lab, and a multipurpose space which can be used by technical education students, or other departments as necessary. One such use for the room might be for agricultural education students involved in food science classes.
New locker room facilities at the high school will allow for greater ease of use for teams playingat the high school. The current weight room will be replaced by a new weight room. This is the same area that will be replaced by the new band room; the location of the new room will allow the band to walk out the room doors directly onto a bus for a trip. The new locker rooms will also allow the public to more easily access areas like the pool during athletic events. Much of the work and construction will not occur until after school is dismissed for the academic year, due to concerns over things like noise and disruption to the learning environment, and asbestos abatement.
All three District schools will be getting new boilers.
The next school year is currently scheduled to start August 24, 2021. The year will likely adjourn June 10, 2022.
The board approved the resignation of Mr. Logan Roshell as the multicultural club advisor.
During the superintendant’s Report Wright explained that the elementary middle and high schools completed safety drill training with students on November 13.
Wright explained that during the meeting an update was provided regarding how the district is doing with COVID-19, he said the last two weeks have been difficult from a staffing perspective and everyone has done a great job being flexible. There was also discussion about winter athletics. He said the district has agreed to proceed with winter sports using the same format as fall athletics. That means there will be four tickets per student athlete. Wright explained other school districts have different allowances for admission and the Elk Mound district will try to honor that when traveling to these other schools. Wright said there was discussion if Elk Mound were to transition to virtual instruction. As long as it was related to staffing and not an outbreak among the students, high school athletics would continue. He noted this is subject to change on short notice, and he also said that the board approved continuing to require masks in school and on buses if the mask mandate is not extended. The issue will be revisited again in the future.
Closed session
In closed session, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Discussed, and approved hiring Wendy Erdman as the archery coach.
• Approved hiring Greg Tatu as the district accountant to replace Mary Harrison, who is retiring.
• Approved freezing salaries and hourly pay due to the pandemic and not knowing what the budget would look like for the school year. District superintendent Eric Wright explained it is typical for staff to receive approximately a 3% raise for teaching staff, $600 was added to the salary grid.
• Approved hiring Kayla Brunner as the new yearbook adviser
• Approved hiring Jennifer George to advise the high school multicultural club.
The next board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. December 21, 2020.