Legislative mandates for district policies, an update on the school's construction project and possible changes in where district finances come from were discussed at length during Monday's meeting of the Wayne Community Schools' Board of Education.
Superintendent Dr. Mark Lenihan told the board he had been a part of a lengthy webinar this week that highlighted 29 amendments to the district's policies that will be required to be a part of the district's policy manual.
These amendments will be included in the 2023-24 Student Handbook for grades 7-12, which was approved at the meeting.
Topics range from option enrollment to suspension of students and from adult education to assessments.
Bob Soukup with Carlson West Provonda and Steve Thiele with Hausman Construction shared information with the board on what has taken place since the passage of a $27,945,000 bond to allow for construction and renovation of the district's facilities.
Soukup told the board that a number of steps have been taken to help speed up the construction process, including the ordering of pre-cast concrete forms for use in building the Pre-K through second grade building.
With the work that has been completed, sub-contractors can be contacted in regard to timelines and to see if adjustments need to be made in the final design of the project.
Soukup said that at the present time, it is anticipated that the construction documents will be submitted to the district in August and work could begin as early as this fall.
Thiele said his firm is keeping an eye on design and schedule to keep on budget.
"A big constraint is the long lead time it takes to get switch gears (part of the electrical component of the project). They are vital to moving forward in the project," Thiele said.
Also during Monday's meeting, approval was given to an amendment allowing for a Construction Partial Guarantee Maximum Paid (GMP) with Hausman Construction. These payments will allow Hausman to work through the design of the project with sub-contractors to possibly lower construction costs.
Dr. Lenihan shared information on the school funding model. He presented a chart showing property and non-property tax revenue that makes up school funding. He said the ultimate goal is property tax relief and talked about revenue caps in certain areas.
Final numbers have not yet been released; however, the district could receive approximately $1.7 million in state aid, compared to $700,000 last year.
Board members approved the resignation of Eric Knutson as the district's attorney, effective June 15. Knutson has served the district since 2011.
In other action, the board received information from Mandy Parker on what it would take to co-op a swim team with Norfolk Public Schools.
Parker has done considerable research on the subject as her son would like to take part in high school swimming. At the present time Norfolk co-ops with Norfolk Catholic, Lutheran High Northeast and Wisner-Pilger (girls only).
Additional discussion will be held on the subject moving forward.
Wayne Community Schools' Foundation Director Rusty Parker presented an annual report to the board. It included a timeline of activities that have taken place in the past year, scholarships offered through the Foundation and the amount of money brought in during this time frame.
Parker also talked about plans moving forward, including the updating of the Foundation's website.
Two agenda items at the meeting involved the buying and selling of land from and to the city of Wayne.
The school district is purchasing a parcel of land west of the Community Activity Center for the construction of the Pre-K through second grade facility and the school is selling a small parcel of land near the walking trail in that area to the city of Wayne. The purchase price of each transaction is $1.
Dr. Lenihan told the board that the school is continuing to move forward with plans to have a Resource Officer for the district. He said he has had discussions with Wayne City Administrator Wes Blecke and Police Chief Marlen Chinn on details. This officer would be in the school buildings approximately 10 hours a week and the plan could be put in place by the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
The possibility of having a wrestling co-op with Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (LCC) for wrestling was discussed.
Information shared included the fact that LCC has been co-oping with Randolph Public Schools but this agreement is ending. It would involve 2-3 boys and 2-3 girls in the high school program. School administrators said these numbers would not have a negative impact on the Wayne program.
Bids for a two-year HVAC Service Agreement with Rasmussn and milk and dairy prices for the coming year were approved.
The HVAC contract is for $24,520.00 for the first year and $25,256.00 for the second year and the milk and dairy contract is with Kemps from LeMars, Iowa. While the prices for milk items are higher than in last year's contract, it will not be necessary to raise the prices for these items for meals served at school.
Board members went into executive session to discuss the District 83 property. No action was taken on the agenda item.
The Wayne Community Schools' Board of Education will next meet in regular session on Monday, July 10 at 5 p.m. in the library of the junior-senior high school.
