Glenwood City school board moves forward with repairs
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By Renee Bettendorf
GLENWOOD CITY — At their committee and board meeting held on Monday evening, the Glenwood City School Board welcomed new board member Anthony Mielzarek. Mielzarek was selected by the board to take over former board member Nicole Miller’s seat in the wake of her recent resignation.
“We’re very glad to have you,” said Board President, Dr. Lisa Kaiser to Mielzarek.
District Administrator, Pat Olson said he met with Mielzarek last week where they went over the board calendar and did an orientation.
“We had a lot of good conversations,” said Olson.
After Mielzarek was officially sworn in as a member, the board spent the majority of the meeting discussing several interior renovation project proposals. They ultimately approved going ahead with the projects which include renovations to the weight room, early childhood classrooms, art and Spanish classrooms and the media center.
The weight room and early childhood classroom renovations are estimated to cost about $895,000 and renovations to the art and Spanish rooms and media center are expected to cost an additional $1.3 million according to an estimate from Wold Architects and Engineers.
Olson told the board that he asked the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for guidance on the use of Fund 80 to help fund the projects. He said the district currently has a balance of $2.7 million in the fund and Fund 80 money has to be used for community education.
According to a letter from the DPI, there are three areas of the plan that appear to be eligible for Fund 80 which are renovations to community programming spaces in the weight room, Tiny Toppers Room, and Hilltopper Hangtime.
Olson had hoped more projects, like reroofing the part of the building where the weight room, Tiny Toppers and Hilltopper Hangtime areas are located would fall under Fund 80, but they do not. He went on to say that Fund 80 has lots of restrictions and that the budget for the projects will have to come from several different funds.
He said that DPI put restrictions on how money from Fund 80 can be used about 10 years ago and those restrictions are “very strict”. Some money from Fund 46, which is a fund for capital projects, has about $900,000 in it could be used for the projects.
He said that by utilizing funds from Fund 80 and Fund 46 and other sources of revenue, the district could renovate and thereby make the building more usable for students and the community. The weight room would become ADA compliant and have a new vestibule, this would make it more accessible to the public. The space would also receive new paint, flooring and lighting.
The Tiny Toppers room would get new flooring, lights and paint as well as a new toilet and changing room. And the Hilltopper Hangtime area would get new paint, flooring and storage space.
Under Fund 10, which currently has $1.9 million the art and Spanish classrooms would be renovated. The Spanish room would be relocated and the area would be converted into a maintenance room. The art classroom would get new sinks, flooring and lighting, and the kiln venting would be updated.
“We have a healthy fund balance,” said Olson of Fund 10.
In addition to Fund 80, 46 and 10, the district also has some funds leftover from government issued Covid funding. Currently the district has $395,000 that would need to be claimed by the end of September. There also is a district capital fund which has $530,000 in it, according to Olson.
The board unanimously approved moving forward with the projects.
Administrative Reports
Since Elementary School Principal Betsy Haltinner and Middle/High School Principal Marcy Burch were both out sick, the board just heard from Director of Student Services, Erin Spaeth.
Spaeth updated the board on Tiny Tots, which is a childcare center located on the Glenhaven campus and newly managed by the district. The program is for children aged six weeks to three years and has space for 36 children. Currently 31 children have expressed interest in attending and five have officially registered.
Olson pointed out that Elmwood is the only other district in the conference that has a childcare program. He also said that childcare is important and might help the district with its enrollment numbers.
“It’s a great thing for the community,” he said of Tiny Tots.
Spaeth also reported that she has been planning next year’s professional development for staff which will include college and career readiness, IEP writing and supporting neurodiverse learners.
Olson briefly went over the principals’ reports. In the elementary school, Kindness Week was held February 12-15 and Reading Week is scheduled from March 4-8. There was a Family Sweetheart Dance held on February 15 which was well attended. Elementary conferences are scheduled for March 11 and Fastbridge reports were sent home on February 20.
At the High School prepping for the upcoming ACT test is underway and at the Middle School a dance was held on February 23 that was attended by 100 students. Burch’s report also thanked staff who have filled in when their colleagues have been out sick.
“The staff has worked together to cover classes and stepped up to help find solutions last minute. The flexibility and commitment to our students does not go unnoticed,” wrote Burch in her report.
The Consent Agenda
After a few questions, the board approved a large consent agenda that included 18 items. A consent agenda is when a number of discussion points are grouped into one action. This eliminates the need for a board to make multiple motions.
Under the consent agenda, the board accepted the resignation of Nicole Miller. They also approved: minutes from previous meetings, several financial statements, several donations and a grant, two reports, the hiring of a substitute teacher, the hiring of a volunteer basketball coach, and one coaching resignation.
Two items on the consent agenda were discussed, the Second Friday Pupil Count Report and a fund transfer request.
According to the pupil count which took place on January 12, there were 604 students in grades one through 12 and 698 students total.
“Is that up or down or the same,” asked Board Member Chuckie DeSmith.
Olson said the numbers are “pretty stagnant”. He went on to say that “open enrollment is still a major component we will be working on, probably $600,000 goes out the door with open enrollment,” said Olson.
Board Clerk, Jodi Main asked about a $632,000 fund transfer request.
Olson said the transfer of funds was for debt service and that he wants any fund transfers to be board approved for checks and balances purposes.
In other business, the Glenwood City School Board:
-Discussed bleacher and gym floor replacement.
-Learned from Olson that the district’s health insurance is projected to increase by 34% next year.
-Learned from Olson that the district’s sign, which was damaged in last summer’s storm, will be replaced with insurance money.
-Learned from Olson that the school district will sell two 15 passenger vans because it is now illegal for school districts to own that type of van.
-Approved a Virtual Only School Day for grades nine, 10 and 12 and a field trip for Middle School students on March 12. Eleventh graders will be taking the ACT exam that day.
-Approved the retirement of Elementary School Principal Betsy Haltinner.
-Went into a closed session but took no action.
