Jefferson discusses construction items
TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
Laura Galbraith and Jeff Farnan are sworn in to their next terms as members of the Jefferson C-123 Board of Education. Travis Angle was not in attendance at the meeting; he will be sworn in next month. All three were unopposed incumbents in the April 4 Municipal Election, meaning that no official election needed to be held.
Progress on the gymnasium at Jefferson C-123 received the bulk of the agenda at the regular meeting of the Jefferson C-123 Board of Education Monday night.
The board approved several items for the new gymnasium, including the additional cost of the design of the Jefferson Eagle at center court and lettering for the gym floor. The bid is worth $6,280, and the board accepted the bid unanimously. The board also voted to pay $1,900 for volleyball inserts on the court.
One major item of discussion was the bid from Nevco for scoreboards. Jermain said the foundation had provided funding for the scoreboards up to $40,000.
The original bid on the scoreboards was for $12,832, and when brought up last month at the board meeting, the members asked for another bid to add video screens.
The video screens provided a sizeable increase to the bid. After some discussion, the board went with the original bid for scoreboards, choosing to remove the cost of end-of-period lights. The final bid approved was worth $11,588, and the measure passed 5-1, with Jeff Farnan providing the sole dissention.
The board also approved the asphalt overlay bid from EL Crawford to pave the driveway and parking lot on the northeast side of the school. The bid was worth $14,501. They also discussed the design of the landscape just outside of the new entrance of the school.
Also during the meeting, community member and parent Andy Schieber spoke to the board in favor of an all-day pre-kindergarten program.
His presentation revolved around the benefits of having all-day Pre-K, saying that students benefited from the interactions while parents benefited from not having to arrange and pay for extra daycare services for times and days where their children were not in school. He said that there was going to be a cost per student, but he didn’t mind that because it was a worthwhile investment in the future of the students.
The other major item of discussion on the agenda was the salary schedule. The board approved a new schedule, which included raising the base pay for teachers by $200 to $30,700. The proposal also increased the raise teachers get when they move to the next step on the schedule by $15 to $400.
The next meeting of the Jefferson C-123 Board of Education is scheduled for Wednesday, May 17 at 7 p.m.