Parking lot to receive repairs at East Union

AFTON - Has the East Union School District’s parking lot ever felt a little bumpy? East Union administration agrees, with the first step of a longer-term project now in motion following approval during their regular board meeting.

Receiving a proposal from Feldhacker Contracting, the project will feature specialized pavement maintenance, utilizing a spray injection approach to repair and preserve the hard surfaces of the district, extending pavement life while avoiding costly reconstruction.

Concrete in driving and parking areas will be repaired through this process, with exceptions to sidewalks. Excluding the southwest and north entrances, areas where vehicles travel will be a smoother drive.

The gravel parking lots on the west and north side of the building are not a part of this contract. Only concrete areas of the district will be repaired.

The agenda item said the paving of the road was in “grave need of repair/replacement,” and was recommended by the Afton Streets Department. Superintendent Tim Kuehl agreed.

“You may have noticed some of our concrete is not in very good condition,” Kuehl said. “What we would like to do — the quotes were done for totally replacing and everything else, which those get excessively expensive in a hurry. I would encourage you to have that maybe be part of a longer-term facilities plan to get done."

The total cost for this first step, which will repair the concrete while the district raises funds for a full replacement, for $11,545.

Monday was a quick meeting to avoid encroaching storms, with word a tornado had touched down close to Mount Ayr during the course of the meeting.

In other East Union news...

Early Childhood Center Director Peggy Hardy gave her quarterly report on the ECC and Infant Toddler Center. With over a year under the ITC’s belt, the center is at or near full capacity in all instruction rooms. Hardy said the quality numbers can be used to pursue additional staffing and grants.

Hardy noted the range of students seeking early childhood programs from East Union, listing Afton, Creston, Murray, Thayer, Mount Ayr, Winterset, Shannon City, Lorimor, Macksburg and Tingley as local communities who have families seeking services at the ECC.

When discussing the preschool, Hardy noticed an increase of students on IEPs, or Individualized Education Program. Elementary Principal Joan Gordon agreed with the trend and gave her own observations.

“I talk to a lot of people, administrators from the area, it’s a growing number. It’s not just East Union.” Gordon said. “My incoming fifth grade, I have 37 students, 12 are on IEPs almost all for academic needs. Some of them are kids that have been with us since kindergarten. Some are kids who moved in with IEP. So it is not something that is uncommon either. But we work with them.”

Several purchases were approved during Monday’s meeting. The Imagine Learning (formerly known as Edgenuity) online courses were renewed for $42,139.57. The online courses are considered essential at East Union to meet student needs at the secondary level.

An annual cost of $420 was approved for the Baker Group Service Agreement at the East Union ITC, which gives the site preventative fire maintenance.

Finally, $33,310 were approved to be paid to Dollamur Sport Surfaces from the district’s SAVE/PPEL funds for wrestling mats at the ITC center.

Gordon and Superintendent Tim Kuehl’s replacements have begun their visits to East Union, with next year’s elementary principal Laura Mitchell shadowing Gordon and incoming superintendent Justin Jeffs visiting the school board during Monday’s meeting.

The board approved a transitional stipend agreement for Jeffs with the Murray Community School District for work Jeffs performed before his official commencement as superintendent. Murray and East Union share Jeffs through operation sharing.

Secondary Principal Jason Riley said a junior firefighter program will begin next year at the district. Led by instructor James Erlbacher, who also instructs ag and FFA courses, the program will be in collaboration with the Afton Volunteer Fire Department. Riley said about five juniors and seniors are expected to participate.

East Union approved their Affirmative Action Plan for the next school year. No changes were made from the previous year.

The use of East Union’s transportation fleet was approved to transport students to remedial summer school programming.

The following contracts and resignations were approved:

Contracts: Tonya Thatcher, ASPIRE director; Rachel Phillips, K-12 art teacher; Clarita Nelson, food service; Linda Holtry, ECC and ITC floater; Tammy Simmerman, part-time ITC floater.

Resignations: Sherrese Buzard, K-12 art teacher; Jenna Tlach, secondary ag teacher; Sara Sanson, elementary para; Christiana Lindquest, ECC para.