Colfax school referendum projects 98 percent complete

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — Colfax school district construction projects financed by a $7.2 million referendum approved by voters last November were 98 percent complete as of the August 21 school board meeting.

“We’re going through the punch list right now,” said Bill Yingst, district administrator, in his report to  the Colfax Board of Education.

“We are close to being able to hold classes,” he said, adding that by the open house scheduled on August 30, the projects would be 99.9 percent complete.

Market & Johnson has done a good job of making sure the job is getting done, Yingst said.

The August 21 school board meeting was held in the new conference room that replaced the high school office.

The construction projects included moving the high school office to the east side of the building at a cost of about $1 million for improving safety and security. Visitors to the high school will now have to check into the high school office before gaining access to the building.

The commons area where the high school office is now located also was remodeled. The construction project included moving the concession stand to the south side of the commons area next to the restrooms.

Jodi Kiekhafer, school board member, wondered if tours of the school buildings would be given during the open house on August 30.

Formal tours have not been scheduled, but the building will be open, so visitors to the school can look around, Yingst said.

The new bus maintenance building is ahead of schedule and should be completed within the next couple of weeks, he said.

“It’s been good progress overall,”  Yingst said.

The new elementary classrooms built on the north side of the existing elementary school replace the “temporary” classrooms that were located directly east of the elementary cafeteria and were in use for 30 years.

At an approximate cost of $1.5 million, the elementary school project included a 1,500 square-foot art room, several other classrooms and a therapy area for therapies such as speech therapy and occupational therapy.

Of the other projects approved in the referendum, building infrastructure cost approximately $2.2 million; the bus maintenance building cost about $800,000; technical education and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) expansion cost approximately $1.2 million; and district bus replacement will cost about $600,000 by the time all of the new liquid propane buses are delivered.

In addition to the construction items and the buses, the referendum question included $400,000 to pay off the school district’s unfunded pension liabilities.

Three of the new LP buses were expected to be delivered soon, and the remaining three will be delivered after the first of the year, Yingst said.

Camera system

All of the Colfax school district buses will be outfitted with a six-camera system, Yingst said.

The camera system is intended to protect the school district from liability, he said.

One of the cameras will be mounted on the outside of the bus by the stop arm so that traffic can be monitored. The camera also will keep students in view as they cross the road, so that students never “come off the camera” as they approach the bus and then go up the steps, Yingst said.

The cameras inside the bus are mounted by the ceiling so there is a “top down” view of the interior of the bus. High-backed seats are federal law, but the high backed seats also make it difficult for bus drivers to see smaller students, he said.

Multiple deliveries

Since so many students spend time with their mothers and their fathers in separate households during the school year, perhaps a week or two with one and then a week or two with the other, Kiekhafer wondered how the school district manages to keep track of the students.

Parents will bring in a calendar indicating where the child is supposed to be when,Yingst said.

Of course, the calendar no sooner is on file and in use when the parent will bring in another calendar that changes where the student/s are supposed to be, he said.

Sandy Sikora, the elementary school secretary, does a tremendously good job of keeping track of students and making sure they get on the proper bus, said Trevor Hovde, elementary and middle school principal.

The bus drivers also pay close attention as to where a student is supposed to be dropped off, he noted.

Some school districts only allow one or two changes per year, but Colfax has always tried to be accommodating, Yingst said.

In spite of everyone’s best efforts, keeping track of where students are supposed to be picked up and dropped off can sometimes be difficult, Yingst and Hovde said.

Open enrollment

The Colfax Board of Education also reviewed proposed changes to the policy on open enrollment.

The school district has no choice but to change the policy so it aligns with state law, said Polly Rudi, director of special education.

The section that addresses an estimate of the costs associated with providing special education or related services required by a non-resident student’s Individual Education Plan must be changed because state law no longer allows an estimate since a flat rate of $12,000 has been set by the state, Rudi said.

All school districts will be dealing with problems created by changes in the state law, Yingst said.

The allocation is $12,000, but even if the services a student needs cost the district $150,000, the district cannot refuse to admit the student based on financial burden created by providing services, he said.

The ability to refuse open enrollment for a special education student because of an undue financial burden was legal up until this year, Yingst noted.

The $12,000 allocation seems to be based on students needing speech and language services in the southern part of the state, Rudi said.

School board member Gary Bjork said he was “troubled” by the removal of local control.

The changes in state law will result in “unintended consequences,” Yingst said.

There are services public schools must provide that private schools do not have to provide, he said.

The change in state law will create a “huge issue for rural schools,” Rudi said.

No motion was needed on the proposed changes since the school board had already adopted the original policy, and the district has no choice but to modify the policy to align with state law.

Other business

In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:

• Learned that $25 had been donated to the sports program by Gayle Mittelstadt in memory of Roger Hoff. Hoff lived in Hayward but was a graduate of Colfax High School. Hoff was born in Colfax in 1947 and was the son of Howard and Hazel (Halvorson) Hoff. He passed away July 9 in Duluth.

• Learned that the school district has received $227 from the state Department of Revenue for exempt computer state aid for 2017. The payment is based on the 2016 value of tax exempt business computers in the school district. Yingst said he suspects the amount could be more, but it is based on businesses reporting their exempt computer value.

• Learned that the school district’s “e-rate” for 2016-2017 was $20,171.48. E-rate is the common name for the schools and libraries program of the Universal Service Fund, which comes from the fees charged to companies that provide telecommunications services.  

• Learned that the Colfax High School course “vet science” meets the equivalency requirements specified in Wisconsin administrative code and that students can earn science equivalent credit for taking the class. John Nelson, agriculture teacher, is certified to teach the class.

• Approved hiring the following people: Lori Gaddy, full-time night custodian; Maegan LaTulip, fifth grade teacher; Alyssa Smith, middle school reading and world history; Derek Westholm, elementary music teacher; and Penny Snyder, full-time bus driver.

• Approved the internal transfer of John Dickinsen from fifth grade teacher to middle school science teacher.

• Accepted the resignation of Melissa Nehm as elementary music teacher. In her letter of resignation dated July 21, Nehm said she was resigning in order to take a position teaching elementary music at the school she attended as a child. Yingst said the school where Nehm would now be teaching is in the Brookfield area.

• Accepted the resignation of Kimberly Leibfried as a bus drive and accepted the resignation of Liebfried as a teacher’s aide.

• Approved the addition of a student activity account for the class of 2021.