by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
The key item on the Sartell-St. Stephen School Board agenda on Aug. 21 was to move forward with the next step in filling the board seat vacated when Michelle Meyer moved out of the district. In order to accomplish that, the board adjourned to a different room and held a separate special meeting to select the candidates.
The Sartell-St. Stephen School District School Board nominated three candidates to be interviewed for its open seat. Amanda Byrd, Taryn Gentile and Jeremy Snoberger are the three candidates who will be interviewed.
Once the interview process is completed, the board will hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 29 to determine which candidate will fill the open seat. The selected candidate will begin service 30 days after the appointment and will fulfill Meyer’s term through November 2018.
Other issues
The board heard reports on the remodeling and construction process. Pine Meadow remodeling is nearly finished with a few small things to complete. The bird metal at Pine Meadow is being installed and should be finished by week’s end. The bird metal is to prevent the barn swallows from building nests and soiling the school. Air conditioning should be ready for the opening of the school year.
Bids were taken on high school construction on Aug. 17. That project is moving along at a steady pace and things are progressing despite the rains. School District Superintendent Jeff Schwiebert invited board members to take a tour to view the construction site for the new high school and the improvements to the site at Pine Meadow.
Schwiebert informed the board of the bidding process that took place Aug. 17. He said bids came in very good and were quite competitive. However, the board does not need to act on the bids immediately. Schwiebert said there was control work that would need to be done at the current high school and at the other three district buildings.
In talking to a state market technician regarding the bids, Schwiebert said he learned there are many new construction projects in the offing that will begin in the new year. One of the concerns is whether there will be enough workers to get the work completed. The fact Sartell has gotten its bid process partially completed makes for a more advantageous position when it comes to completing the building on budget.
Schwiebert announced to the board that in the coming week the school staff will be returning and they have three new online programs that will provide required training on blood-borne pathogens, ALICE Training (Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate), a kind of training for teachers in the event of an intruder, as well as all their benefit-package information will be online. Training in that way saves time and is more efficient.
Negotiations are ongoing to get agreement for use of Champion Field. It should be worked out in the near future. School will be starting in about two weeks.
Action items
The board took the following actions: Approved a personnel omnibus resolution relating to various employment slots in the district; approved Superintendent Schwiebert’s annual appraisal; approved the 10-year-long Term-Facility-Maintenance Projections required by the state; approved the Truth in Taxation hearing for Monday, Dec. 18 at Sartell High School; and rescheduled the Monday, Sept. 18 board meeting to 7 p.m. due to conflicts.
