NVMS leaky roof needs replaced

Nodaway Valley Superintendent Dr. Pam Stangeland said during last Tuesday’s school board meeting that the the secured entrances project going on at all three buildings is slow going; however, she and other school leaders are confident that contractors know the district’s deadline for them to wrap the work up before school starts.

The district received school safety grant funding from Governor Kim Reynolds’ office last school year to help pay for the secured entrances that will force visitors to Nodaway Valley’s buildings into a school office before being granted access to the rest of the building.

“They said they’re not going to reach their July 25 substantial completion date. They said it’s due to the changes that were made. We made it very, very clear that we have school starting on August 25 and we will not have unsecured entrances at that time,” Stangeland said.

Maintenance Director Brian Crees said work on the same projects began a couple of weeks earlier at Cumberland-Anita-Massena, where he is also maintenance director.

Crees thought the glass supplier has the glass needed for the new doors at the middle school, which was slated to be the first building completed.

There were a few change orders submitted on behalf of construction management firm Boyd-Jones’ behalf that could have impacted the timeline of NV’s entrances. Crees thought the changes might result in a cost savings to the district.

In other facilities discussion, Crees said the middle school roof is in dire need of attention due to four separate areas where rainwater leaks through. In the area of the stage and gym — the oldest part of the building — the janitorial staff has to be on-call and go clean up indoor puddles after it rains. There has also been rainwater in the library this summer.

Crees has put temporary fixes in place but a more permanent fix will need to be made soon. Cost opinions he has received say the entire project together could cost approximately $300,000.

Amanda Cox, the school business official and board secretary, said the district’s SAVE fund balance is about $1.7 million and roof fixes could be paid from there; however, the secured entrances projects and bus leases will come from this funding source.

A sales tax-driven funding stream for school infrastructure, SAVE stands for Secure an Advanced Vision for Education.

Board member Molly Herrick presented the board with artist renderings and quotes for vinyl decals that can go on the front entryway of all three buildings. Herrick said there could be some variation on design between buildings, but her opinion is the colors used should be consistent between buildings. You can see out the windows with the decals but not in from the outside. A decision will be made on the stickers at a future meeting.

In other news, the board:

• approved hiring elementary paras Amber Breece, Ryan Summers, Kilee Nelson, Kimberly Sullivan and Patricia Savage; assistant high school football coach Colby Christensen; assistant junior high football coach Gerry Miller; student council sponsor Jennifer Reed and high school para Jessica Boswell

• approved changes to the employee, student and activities handbooks

• approved bread (Pan-O-Gold), garbage (Grantham Sanitation), milk (Anderson Erickson), pest (Pest Off) and snow removal (Gary Finck Contracting) bids

• approved an out-of-state zoology class trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha

• approved a Classroom Clinic software contract, which is an online platform to provide psychology and mental health therapy services to district students

• approved an administrator mentoring program contract for Stangeland

• approved an increase to $3 for school lunch prices

• approved a new cell phone policy that aligns with state-level legislative decisions