Caledonia Argus

Four-period day will be revised

Posted: 12/23/02

by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter

The ISD #299 school board authorized district administrators to revise Caledonia High Schoolís four-period schedule in favor of a schedule ìwith a bias towards the eight-period day.î

The decision in favor of an eight-period day, approved by the school board at a meeting on December 19, will most likely result in a combination of both the four-period day and the eight-period day, such that both block scheduling (used currently at CHS) and single period courses (the staple of the eight-period day) will be incorporated into the schedule.

The specifics of the 2003 class schedule will be determined by school officials sometime in January, according to District Superintendent Jim Tool.

Board weighs payment plans for Warrior Avenue construction

The City of Caledonia agreed to pay $25,000 towards construction of Warrior Avenue and Kruckow Avenue near the new middle/high school. The City Council presented the school board with two optionsñ either the city pay $20,000 towards the cost of Warrior Avenue construction and hold $5000 until Kruckow is extended, whenever that time may be, or the city pay $20,000 and have Kruckow completed in 2003, at which point the board and council would split the cost of Kruckow construction, provided the cityís share doesnít exceed $5000.

At a City Council meeting on December 9, Mayor Robert Burns indicated that the cost of completing Kruckow Ave. during summer 2003 might be less than $10,000, since mobilization costs for construction will be substantially less at that time. If this is so, then if the board and the council split the cost of completing Kruckow in summer 2003, it could be that both the board and the council would end up paying less than $5000 apiece.

With Burnsí plan for a possible cost reduction to both parties in mind, board member Bruce Bulman suggested to board members that they agree to the latter of the two options, in which Kruckow will be completed in summer 2003.

A final agreement between the school board and the city council will be discussed in the near future.

Retrofit update

Construction at the former high school is nearing completion, and Kraus-Anderson Project Superintendent Ken Cote' is satisfied with the overall progress.

ìWeíre coming along really well, weíre getting really close,î Cote' said.

The second floor should be ready for state inspections by January 6, Cote' noted, and it should be completed in full by the second week of January. The first floor, he added, will be completed in early February.

The doors on the northwest side of the school, damaged by a vehicle collision on November 24, are expected to be fully repaired by the first week in February. Though it was anticipated that the entrance would be repaired by the end of December, an inspection revealed that the vehicleís tires had loosened the ceramic floor tiles, necessitating removal and replacement.

Full kitchen at new grade school

Also at Thursdayís meeting, the board approved a motion to have a full service kitchen at the new elementary school. Initial plans were for the kitchen to not be full serviceñ hot meals were to be prepared at the middle/high school and transported to the elementary school. However, Ken Cote' notified the board on Thursday that the cost to render the kitchen fully functional is just over $16,000, a sharp drop in the initial price estimate, which one board member recalled being about $100,000.

A fully functional kitchen, commented Caledonia Elementary Principal Connie Hesse, has several advantagesñ it reduces the cost of transporting food (from the middle/high school), it allows hot breakfast to be served, and it could facilitate extending the work hours of the elementary kitchen staff.

The cost of making the kitchen fully operational, board member Barb Hurley, pointed out, will come from funds already allocated toward the construction project.

ìThis is money in the building fund itself,î she said. ìIf itís not used, weíre just going to lose it.î

Board member Dave Klinski added, ìWe wouldnít be good stewards of resources if we passed up this opportunity.î

With this in mind, the board approved the motion to make the kitchen at the elementary school a full service kitchen.

2003 school levy approved

Following voter approval of the operating levy on December 17, the school board approved the $1,476,848 2003 school levy on December 19. The amount includes $927,417 for debt service funds, and approximately $500,000 for general funds, $433,540 of which constitutes the operating levy. Roughly $46,000 of the 2003 levy will go toward community education.

$596,120 was to be levied for health and safety items and a lease levy, but this amount will not be levied. The board agreed that, if the operating levy referendum was approved by voters, the health and safety amount would not be levied. $15,800 of the $596,120 was to go toward a lease levy, but Tool advised the board not to levy that amount, since there was now only a limited need for property leasesñ certain city properties and the telephone building no longer needed to be leasedñ and a carry-over of $44,000 from the 2002 levy could be used to finance remaining leases.

Departing board members bid farewell

December 17, the last time the school board would meet in 2002, was also the final meeting for departing board members Bruce Bulman and Cheryl Whitesitt.

Bulman, with nearly a decade of school board service, expressed satisfaction with the school boardís efforts to spearhead the construction projects at the new middle/high school and the new elementary school.

ìItís been tough the last few years, but itís been rewarding,î Bulman said. ìIíve heard nothing but positive comments from people whoíve gone through the new building, and when people go through the new elementary, theyíll be amazed.î

Whitesitt, a 15-year veteran of the board, expressed an appreciation of everyone who has worked together to better the district.

ìI need to thank the board, the administration past and present, the staff, and the community,î she said. ìItís been a tremendous experience, and I really loved it.î

Bulman ran for re-election in November, but lost, and Whitesitt chose not to run. Naomi Fruechte and Mary Frank are the new members of the board. Current board members Charlie Wray and Chuck Schulte were re-elected to the board in the last election.

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