J-M to consider building improvements
JEFFERSON – Jefferson-Morgan School Board agreed Tuesday to meet next week to finalize the scope of work for the middle-senior high school building improvement project and again discussed the district’s efforts to address recent bomb threats.
The board voted to recess Tuesday’s meeting until 6:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at which time the board will finalize the project scope.
The district’s architect asked the board to make a final decision on the scope of the work to meet a time schedule that will allow the district to solicit bids for the work before the end of December, board president Lisa Mattish said.
The board earlier considered a complete renovation of the school but then decided, because of projected costs, to limit the scope to what the district could afford.
It narrowed the list of improvements to the replacement of the roof and windows and the installation of a new heating and air conditioning system.
The board has several options to consider, board member Bob Mitchell said, including whether the district will have enough money to replace the heating and air conditioning system not only in the school but also in the school’s auditorium and gymnasium.
The district’s architect, Tom Durkin of Valentour, English, Bodnar and Howell, will attend the meeting Dec. 8 to discuss the project. The board’s budget committee also will have information available then regarding project funding.
District Superintendent Donna Furnier reported the district’s all-hazards team continues to meet to address issues regarding the recent rash of bomb threats. The last threat was Nov. 19.
She noted state police Trooper Bart Lemansky will meet with the students in the middle-senior high school to discuss the dangers and disruptions caused by the threats and school evacuations and the legal consequences of making such threats.
A program also will be held by Lemansky in the elementary school, she said.
The threats were in the form of written notes turned into a principal or messages or words written on restroom walls. Furnier said restrooms are being monitored and are checked before and after students use them.
The team also has developed a communications plan.
Parents will first be notified through the district’s one-call telephone system about a lock down, evacuation or school closing. A second message will be made through the one-call system once the situation has been resolved.
This call will also provide assurances the schools are safe and have resumed normal operations and direct the parent to the district website for further information on the nature of the incident and steps being taken to address it.
The district also is meeting with other vendors for the district’s automated telephone calling system because of delays the district has experience in making the calls. It takes about a half hour for the current system to make calls to all district parents.
The board also is discussing the creation of a Facebook page as an additional avenue of keeping parents informed.
The board held its reorganization meeting Tuesday and voted to re-elect Mattish president. Board member Dan Wagner also was nominated for the post by Jon Hildebrand. Wagner declined the nomination. Mitchell was re-elected vice president.
The board agreed to continue meeting the third Monday of each month, except in January, when the meeting will be Jan. 20; February, when the meeting will be Feb. 17; June, when the meeting will be June 22; and December, when the reorganization meeting will be Dec. 1.
The board holds its meeting at 6:30 p.m.