Jefferson School District to 'brainstorm' Tuesday

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 12:26 PM CDT

JEFFERSON - The Jefferson School District Board of Education decided this week it will meet Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. at the high school library to carry on further discussions related to the new Jefferson High School referendum project officials think might cost $37 million to $39 million. The referendum could be put before the public this November.

After a referendum related to the high school failed in the spring of this year, the board began seeking other ways to renovate the aging high school in order to provide a facility that will meet the educational needs of youth today and into the future. The district is considering an architect's plan for a mixed project that would include some new construction combined with the retaining of some of the existing structure. It is anticipated that site drawings will be available at the meeting for the public to view.

The board this week also heard a report from Trane Energy Services related to a contracting proposal for work that needs to be done at the middle school to even out heating and cooling concerns in various parts of the building. No action was taken by the board, however.

According to school district superintendent Mike Swartz, the district will take the information provided by Trane under advisement.

“(Trane) presented a proposal to address the middle school energy concerns and the HVAC system which is not as efficient as it could be,” Swartz said. “This is an ongoing set of concerns and we're looking at our options. We have such inconsistency in the heating and cooling of the classrooms. We need to address these problems.”

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The board also heard a budget update for 2008-09.

“We presented the board with six or seven items to adjust and this gives us a balanced budget,” Swartz said. “We will address these at future meetings. In the past, we were $113,000 short of balancing the budget and we have come up with some things that enable us to balance that out.”

All donations that were listed on the school board agenda were accepted.

The employment of Nicole Wegner as a K4 teacher at Sullivan Elementary School was approved, as was the hiring of Christopher Luther as a high school science teacher.

Swartz called the meeting set for Tuesday to discuss the high school “a brainstorming session.”

“It's a public meeting. We want to come to a resolution on some changes individuals want to see and go from there,” he said.