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Creston schools’ plan for the additions for the Early Childhood Center has moved to its next phase after being approved at Monday’s school board meeting.
DLR Group, the architect for the project, has been working on the project since September 2023.
The main highlight of DLR’s presentation were new renderings of the proposed ECC, refining them from their last school board appearance.
Project manager Eric Beron underlined the moment. “This is your project. This is your building,” he said. “Congratulations.”
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Monday’s board approval marks the end of the design development phase of the project and begins the construction documents phase. Over the next two months DLR will collect and provide final specifications regarding the project and site to the city of Creston and the school board.
Construction for the ECC is tentatively scheduled to be finalized for the 2025-2026 school year, with the majority scheduled to be completed in August and the final completion by the end of October.
In other school board news...
The board approved renewing health insurance with ISEBA for the district for 2024-2025. The district has worked with the Iowa School Employee Benefits Association since 2004. The renewal rates have a 4.5% premium increase.
New policies were revised by the board, with increased focus regarding conduct around technology. Policies laying framework toward staff and students for the use of AI, the internet and social media were the highlights.
The board approved the audit of their 2023 fiscal year. No major concerns from the administration were raised.
The board approved revising the 2023-2024 district calendar, waiving making up missed school days in January due to inclement weather. The district was closed for seven days, two of those days teachers provided remote instruction. Students’ last day is still scheduled for May 24. The district calendar was above the minimum state requirement for instruction days by 8.5 days. Licensed staff will only make up two contract days.
The board approved a public hearing for 6 p.m., Monday, April 15, to discuss the proposed 2024-2025 school calendar. The next regular board meeting will follow immediately after.