Glenwood City School Board moves forward with HVAC project
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By Renee Bettendorf
GLENWOOD CITY — At their committee and board meetings held back to back on December 18, the Glenwood City School Board discussed a facilities maintenance report and how to best distribute donated funds to the food service. They also approved going forward with an HVAC project and the purchase of cameras for four buses.
In the absence of District Administrator, Patrick Olson, who was coaching a basketball game, MS/HS Principal, Marcy Burch, briefed the board on the $36,067 proposal for HVAC updates. Frank Kohler, IT Director, was on hand at the meeting to answer questions.
According to a memo written by Olson, the entire GCSD HVAC system is viewable and editable both on-site and remotely via a single piece of hardware called a Jace. Currently the Jace is often running at max capacity which is causing it to crash frequently.
Olson’s memo went on to say “it’s only a matter of time before that Jace crashes permanently”. At that point there would be no way to view or manipulate the heating and cooling systems in the building.
The proposed work, which would be completed by Masters Building Solutions of Chippewa Falls, would add a second Jace to the system as well as tie the two Jaces to a server. Olson’s memo stated that he had met with two HVAC experts, Kohler, the Buildings and Grounds Supervisor and the District Accountant about the project and recommended moving forward with the proposal.
Board President, Dr. Lisa Kaiser asked Kohler if the upgrades would be compatible with any remodels the district may do in the future.
“Whatever we do in the future, the HVAC system would still work,” replied Kohler.
The board approved the proposal with five votes, Board Members Jodi Main and Nicole Miller were absent.
The board also approved $17,749 for the purchase and installation of cameras on the four remaining district buses that do not have cameras.
Burch and Elementary School Principal, Betsy Haltinner both said it is not uncommon for students to report having issues while riding the bus. And that having cameras in all of the buses would be beneficial.
“It will be so helpful,” said Burch of having the bus fleet fully outfitted with cameras.
During the committee meeting the board discussed the facility maintenance report which was conducted by Wold Architects and Engineers last summer. The firm did a walk through of the building and identified maintenance needs.
If all of their proposed work were to be completed, the cost would be nearly $24 million. The firm broke their proposal down into six subcategories which are: site, exterior, interior, accessibility, mechanical systems and electrical systems.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee went through each subcategory and prioritized each project on a scale from one to four with one being the most urgent. If the district did just the most high priority items the cost would be about $5.1 million.
Some of the top priority projects include; roof patching, repairs to the water heating system and repairing the public address system so announcements can be heard in all areas of the building.
In her Buildings and Grounds Committee report to the board, Board Treasurer, Sally Standaert, said that the Wold report contains “very early findings” and that there are alot more meetings to work through.
“There will be more to come on that,” Standaert said of the facility summary.
Executive Secretary to the District Administrator, Open Enrollment Coordinator and Food Service Supervisor, Christa Edin sought guidance from the board on how to distribute donated funds to the food service program.
Edin said the current balance in the Angel Fund, which is where money donated to the school to help cover students’ lunch costs, is sitting at $3,392 with about $1,600 of that being donated this year.
Currently, Edin and Olson decide to use Angel funds to help families that get behind on their lunch accounts on a case by case basis. Sometimes the money goes to families that are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program, but not always, since that program can be difficult to get into, according to Edin.
When a family falls behind too far on their lunch account, the district stops serving them hot lunch and prepares a cold sack lunch for them instead. The sack lunches include a sandwich, a fruit and a milk. For some students getting a sack lunch is embarrassing, said Edin.
She went on to say that right now the negative food service balance for the whole district is about $678 which is actually pretty good. Edin wondered if the board would like to come up with a policy or guidelines on how to best use Angel funds.
Kaiser asked what other districts are doing with donated money for school meals to which Edin replied that other districts are doing the same thing Glenwood is.
After some discussion about sack lunch stigma and concerns that the negative food service balance could grow if balances were regularly paid by the Angel Fund, the board suggested that the administration team come up with guidelines for the fund.
In other business the Glenwood City School Board:
-Approved a five year contract with EO Johnson Print Management for $8,000.
-Approved the acceptance of donations from Milwaukee Society of Plastics and Dahl Well Drilling & The Pump House LLC for $2,555 and $5,000 respectively.
-Approved the resignation of Beth Davis as JV volleyball coach.
-Approved the resignation of Angela Williams as Assistant Track and Field Coach and the hiring of Maddie Lebouton for the position.
-Approved Taylor Deling as a volunteer girls basketball coach.
-Approved the hiring of Tanner Davis as a substitute teacher.
