‘City doing fantastic work’ around school construction

The El Dorado Springs School Board met Thursday, Feb. 8, for a long and varied agenda.

The board approved the payment of bills totaling $558,415.60.

First off was an update from two FFA students on chapter activities (see photo and cutline).

In Old Business, Supt. Mark Koca gave a construction report. He said Branco has dug and poured footings. He said construction is not on schedule but for the last week, they have been working every day they could.

“The city has been doing fantastic work,” the supt. said.

He said he has authorized additional work at the south end of the track because it is a quagmire where you could lose a shoe if you step off the track.

Supt. Koca said the construction plan calls for building a wall to replace the south doors to the gym lobby. He proposes to save a lot of money by having the maintenance staff construct a trophy case there which would be about the same size but deeper than the trophy case construction will knock out.

He also said he noticed that the construction plans do not provide for drainage under the middle of the floor of the new gym essentially trapping any water that collects there. He said he had a big fight with the construction company and it was finally decided to shovel a trench in the gravel to allow the water to escape.

The superintendent gave an eight month report from 360 Engineers on energy savings. The bottom line is that the company guaranteed savings of $30,575 for that time period and provided actual savings of $41,324.

Supt. Koca said, “I think we are experiencing what we expected.”

In New Business, the board took up policy changes, The board approved the policy and regulation changes: 1. P&R 1300 – Prohibition Against Harassment, Discrimination; 2. P&R 1621 Student Safety; 3. P&R 2260 Homeless students; 4. R 2673 Reporting of Violent Behavior (the rules have been tightened and toughened); 5. P&R 2670 Students in Foster Care; 6. R 6145 Service Animals in Schools; 7. R 6250 Instruction for Students with Disabilities. The board approved the deletion of P&R 1310, P&R 2130, P&R 4810 and P&R 6273.

The board opened bids on a new mower. The approved the purchase of a mower from Precision Small Engine with the staff to choose from three bids submitted for a 72” Gravely.

The board approved a resolution from the Cedar County Hazard Mitigation Plan. It is necessary for the board to have that in place or the school cannot receive money from a Federal grant if there is a disaster.

The board heard a report on the finances of summer school. The school cleared $300,285 on summer school before payroll..

Supt. Koca reported that teachers received a total of $6,911 from Community Foundation grants: Angie Johnson HS Special Ed to purchase bookpack audio books – $1,000, Tracy Barger: Elementary School to fund acquisition of a therapy dog – 1,000, Suzan Durnell: Elementary Library to purchase technology toys and board games – 636, Nancy Coffer: Elementary Special Ed to purchase chrome books – 675, Katy Finnegan: Middle School Special Ed to purchase chrome books – $750, Stephanie Steward: MS to purchase alternative seating – $450, Chisty McKinney: High School Special Ed to purchase chrome books – $1,200, Dana Abercrombie: Middle School Special Ed to purchase chrome books – $1.200.

The board had a discussion regarding the MSBA tele-practice system for delivery of speech service. The school has run an ad for five years looking for a speech pathologist because Steve Thomas is retiring.  MSBA is offering a program on two-way TV to provide speech therapy in a group setting.

Supt. Koca provided a list of capital improvements and summer maintenance  projects: starting with the most expensive items – roofing Elementary – $113,000; $58,000 for Track/Baseball Field Driveway; purchase eight HVAC units – $50,000 (Supt. Koca said that there are still 41 HVAC units in service that were installed in 2000. He expects 8-10 to fail per year so he needs to set back money for that expense.) wash/pant exterior awnings – $11,700, secure entry HS – $11,700, replace north Middle School exit doors – $8,740, reroute sewer line Main HS Bldg; asbestos removal – $4,200, new ice machine – $3,500… and the list goes on.

FFA STUDENTS ADDRESS BOARD – FFA Students, Makenzie Melton and Bradley McCullick, gave a report to the Board of Education on February 8, 2018 on FFA’s accomplishments and activities for the school year. Photo by Dr. Theresa Christian.