Weatherly school district prepares to finance building plan

The Weatherly board took another step toward its building plan last week as a recommendation was made to appoint a financing team to secure funding.

The team will include legal and bond counsel to prepare for a potential bond to be issued to cover the cost of the construction and repairs. The board will also vote this week to submit construction documents, referred to as PlanCon F in the construction process.

The plan, initiated by Superintendent Teresa Young, will convert the middle school into the district’s high school and the current high school into a middle school. Among the more than 30 building improvements included in the plan, each school will get secure building entrances, HVAC system upgrades, ADA upgrades, and improvements to the gymnasiums.

Areas of Improvement at the current elementary/middle school include creation of secure building entrances which include office relocations, improvements to the current fire alarm system, outside lighting upgrades, replacement of underground oil tanks, replacement of flooring where asbestos is present, installation of portable chair lift and more.

At the high school, improvements include replacing the stage chair lift, replacing the emergency generator, installation of an automatic master clock system, modifications to create restrooms that are ADA compliant and more.

Bids are expected to be awarded in December, with construction to begin in June 2019.

The project could include switching the elementary and high school buildings. The cost won’t be known until the bids come in, but the district says the benefits include: improved safety in our buildings; a large group instruction/common area; a career center; a dedicated area for small group instruction; a media center, a science center and student commons area.

Cafeteria debts

In other business, the board is set to hire a debt collector for cafeteria funds.

Business Manager Peter Bard recommended the board retain debt collector J.P. Harris of Mechanicsburg to secure funds from delinquent cafeteria accounts. According to Bard, approximately 20 percent of student accounts are delinquent from the school year 2017-18. The district has $3,200 in delinquent cafeteria accounts from last school year.

The debt continues to accumulate, as there are already delinquent accounts in the first month of the school year.

Students with a delinquent account from a previous school year are still eligible to get lunch this year as each account resets to zero at the beginning of a new school year.

“The first step is to get them to fill out applications for free and reduced lunch,” Bard said. “Perhaps they aren’t aware that they qualify.”

Currently, 52 percent of students in the district participate in the free or reduced lunch program.

Bard also reported that the district received a bid of $68,000 for Macintosh computers that the district replaced with new ones this year.

He recommended the board accept the high bid for the computers from Diamond Assets of Milton, Wisconsin. Bard reported that the district also collected $15,000 from the sale of the old computers to district staff.

The district will use the $83,000 from both sales to offset the cost of purchasing new computers for the 2018-19 school year.

Four board members were absent from the meeting. Shay Wagner, William Knepper, Georgeann Herling and board President Girard Fewins did not attend the meeting. Gerry Grega attended the meeting via speakerphone.

The board’s monthly public meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the middle school.