Educational materials for $7.2 million Colfax school referendum ready soon
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Educational materials will be available soon for residents in the Colfax school district regarding the $7.2 million referendum in November.
Bill Yingst, district administrator, reported on the progress of handouts, posters and mailers at the Colfax Board of Education’s September 19 meeting.
Yingst said he would be reviewing the mailer this week that will be sent out to school district residents.
After he reviews the mailer, it will be printed and distributed, Yingst said.
Yingst also reported he had provided more photographs of the existing bus maintenance garage to SDS Architects.
A draft plan for the referendum projects will be available soon, he said.
The Colfax Board of Education approved contracting with SDS Architects out of Eau Claire at the July meeting for concept development and referendum support.
The contract amount for concept development is $2,700, and the contract amount for referendum support is $1,500.
Items that will be part of the $7.2 million referendum question in November include replacing temporary classrooms for $1.4 million; building infrastructure for $2.2 million; a bus maintenance building for $750,000; technical education and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) expansion for $1.2 million; improving safety and security for $650,000; and district bus replacement for $600,000.
In addition to the construction items and the buses, the referendum question will include $400,000 to pay off the school district’s unfunded pension liabilities.
If voters in the school district approve the referendum question November 8, the Colfax school board would then advertise for bids for architects and construction companies
The Colfax Board of Education sent out a survey to district residents earlier this year to ask about which projects residents may be willing to support.
Overall, those who responded to the survey said they might be likely to support replacing the temporary classrooms; technical education and Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) expansion; building infrastructure such as roofs, carpeting and heating controls; improving safety and security, including moving the high school office to the east entrance; six new Liquid Propane buses; and a new bus maintenance building.
According to the survey results, respondents said they would not be likely to support air conditioning to dehumidify, control mold, and to better maintain technology such as computers; a new high school auditorium to enhance cultural arts curriculum and activities; and elementary locker rooms, which would be beneficial for visiting sports teams so they do not have to try to find their way through the entire building to use locker rooms.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Learned that Colfax Elementary has 462 students, which is eight more students than a year ago.
• Learned that Colfax High School and Colfax Middle School have 378 students, which is 11 more than last year. For the 2016-2017, the senior class has 48 students, the junior class has 68 students, the sophomore class has 71 students and the freshmen class has 79 students. The Colfax eighth grade class has 62 students, and the seventh grade class has 50 students.
• Learned that next month’s meeting will be held October 24 instead of on the regular meeting date of the third Monday of the month on October 17. The October meeting is scheduled one week later because state aid is not certified until October 15, and the tax levy must be ready for approval by the time of the board meeting, Yingst said.
• Approved an energy efficiency exemption of $26,364. The exemption must be applied to the revenue limit worksheet, Yingst said. Although school districts had hoped to be able to use the money saved on becoming more energy efficient for other purposes, such as paying down debt incurred to install energy efficiency measures, the rules now require school districts to receive less state aid. The actual number for the energy efficiency exemption might fluctuate over the next week or two, Yingst said.
• Accepted the resignation of Donnette Mickelson as the district media specialist. Mickelson had served in the Colfax school district for 14 years. According to Mickelson’s letter of resignation dated August 22, she was offered the position of district medial specialist with the Barron school district.
• Approved hiring three teacher aides for the 2016-2017 school year: Pamela Sikora, Kristina Nelson and Alycia Dickinsen. No background information on the applicants was included in the school board packet or was discussed at the meeting.
• Approved bylaw and policy changes recommended by the school district’s attorney to reflect newly updated Education Department Administrative Regulations. The U.S. Department of Education released a major rewrite of the regulations in 2014 after nearly 40 years of very little change in the compliance measures for federally-funded programs, Yingst said. The changes included the conflict of interest bylaw and policy; job-related expenses policy; federal funds policy; administration of grant programs policy; and the purchasing policy. The Board of Education received a list that included the bylaw and the policies but did not receive the actual changes.
Following the regular meeting, the Colfax Board of Education met in closed session to review staff compensation.
Yingst reported no action had been taken during the closed session.