Wear and tear on school property is an issue, too. “Nearly every single one of our textbooks costs between $70 and $80,” he said, “an atrocious amount of money, and none of them fit in the top of the old lockers.”
But why blue? board members wanted to know.
Cyr said they had considered lockers bearing the school colors, but vetoed it, saying it would look like a checkerboard and be too busy. Ultimately the paint was decided on based on durability.
Check Valve
A proposal from I & S Group to install a new check valve at New Richland to prevent future storm sewer backups was approved. The cost will be $15,175 but will be covered by FEMA.
Honeywell/ESG
Project completion
A check to Honeywell for $4,400 was approved, which represents the final amount being withheld by the district until unfinished work was successfully completed and settled.
Wellen admitted the district was buying a lot this year.
“We’re spending now, because we’ve put some things off, and this year’s portion of the roofing project is a smaller one than usual,” he said.
NRHEG busing to Waldorf
Last month, the Transportation Committee (John Harrington, Rick Schultz, and Michele Moxon) met with bus drivers and Transportation Director Karla Christopherson to discuss altering one or two existing bus routes to accommodate out-of-district Open Enrollment students.
Bus drivers helped with suggestions how to include additional stops without unnecessarily extending the route travel time. Route travel times now are between 45-64 minutes.
“We currently have three students [requesting to be picked up] but have had as many as 12,” said Rick Schultz.
The Committee produced a plan to alter two existing routes to include additional stops on Waseca County Road 29 and in the city of Waldorf, for the 2011-12 school year.
“[The stops are] in a cluster where we can pick up quite a few students,” said Schultz. “[The location] was unique in the amount of interest we received.”
All Day Every Day
Kindergarten
All Day Everyday Kindergarten was approved for starting October 24, 2011.
After Thanksgiving feels like a long time to wait, according to Superintendent Kevin Wellen.
Elementary Coordinator Doug Anderson surveyed a number of parents, and drew some conclusions for the board.
“Numbers vary,” he said, “but in general they tend toward going sooner – but not right away.”
Most favorable time to begin seemed to be “the Monday after the EM Convention.”
Extend agreement
for Legion Field
The board approved extending the $1,600/year lease agreement with the City of New Richland to five years. Concurrently, Wellen told the board, the district is looking into a new scoreboard for the softball field, and that sponsorships would take care of it in the same way as the new school scoreboards.
Meeting time change
After several months’ discussion, the board moved to change the regular meeting time from 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., beginning next month.
“I also recommend that in July we formally move the Organizational Meeting [from July] to January,” said Wellen. This would be so that newly elected board members will have immediate opportunity to make changes.
