Board Members:
I hope you have all had a great week and are looking forward to the three day weekend. I am pretty excited since college football starts this weekend! With seven days of school under our belts, we are really starting to get in a rhythm.
Our new maintenance director started on Monday and quickly took charge of several projects and outstanding issues that needed to be addressed. So far he has been able to expedite several open work orders. It is very nice to have someone back on board to handle this stuff!
On Monday afternoon, Mr. Wurzer, Mr. Dieken and I met informally with a group that would like us to consider adding a dance team to our repertoire of student activities. While full approval of a new activity will require board approval, we are agreeable to [recommend] granting permission to pilot during this school year with the caveat that the school district would not be in a position to provide any financial support for this project outside of some ancillary transportation costs. I'll bring a proposal for your consent to pilot to our September board meeting. Nevertheless, if they generate the numbers to support a team without harming any existing programs we would consider bringing a comprehensive proposal to the board for approval during the next budget cycle. They will also be having a conversation with the booster club about some assistance with uniforms and fundraising.
At the city council meeting on Monday after some lengthy debate and discussion, the city council decided on a vote of 0-5 to decline moving forward with vacating Washington Street. According to their legal counsel, Iowa Code states that any vacation of a city street or alley may not be for a public purpose. Based on the fact this request is being made for a public purpose, the city council does not believe that fits within the legal parameters of their authority. We'll have to circle back and consider this further as we move forward. I'll forward the communication I received from the mayor that includes his narrative as well as the minutes from their meeting so you can see the full context of the discussion.
Finally, we are having some challenges with our new air conditioning units. While we are able to achieve the set point temperature in these classrooms, the relative humidity in these rooms is very high; in fact uncomfortably so. We have had our engineer out to troubleshoot the problem and we are in contact with the manufacturer to come up with a solution. It is a bit annoying and frustrating for us all!
The picture I am sharing this week is from a visit to kindergarten on Monday. The teacher wasted no time in starting to work with the youngsters on penmanship! Have a great weekend!
Dr. Tony Voss, Superintendent
Additional settings for Safari Browser.
