Spencer School Board approves funding for construction projects
Funding for upcoming construction projects was an important topic at the July 19 Spencer School Board meeting. The board received an update on projects to build an infant care center on the south side of the school building and for safety-related additions to the dome, and discussed options for paying for those projects.
District Superintendent Mike Endreas gave the board an update on the upcoming project. Plans for the construction of the infant care center had been completed, and the final costs had been totaled. There were a few items listed in the project’s total cost that Endreas asked the board if they wanted to include or change, including heated floors, a bathroom that had access to the nearby playground and the type of roofing material to use.
The item that caused the most discussion at the meeting was the exterior bathroom. Adding the bathroom to the project would cost an additional $52,000, and members of the board discussed if it was really necessary.
“$52,000 is a lot for a bathroom,” said board president Jordan Buss.
“$52,000 would buy a lot of porta-potties for the summer,” added vice president Becky Gorst.
Endreas explained to the board why the bathroom was being considered in the first place.
“A member of the village board had brought it up when we were talking about installing the new playground equipment,” he said. “Putting in the new Lunar Landing playground will likely draw a lot more people to using the park in the summer. Parents know how difficult it is with kids who need to use the bathroom and there aren’t any. People talk about that being a problem with the Marshfield splash pad. There are no bathrooms there.”
After discussing it further, the board decided to approve the project with all of its additions. The total amount for the project was set to not exceed $1,477,923.55. To fund the project, Endreas said there were a few options. A financial model by Baird suggested taking out $695,000 from Fund 10 (the general fund) and placing it in Fund 46 (building fund). If the district took out more funds — the numbers ranged from $800,000 to $900,000 — the budget would be overspent, but would guarantee more state aid in the future, which would balance out the mill rate for the coming years.
“The base is $695,000 that we are going to transfer to Fund 46,” he said. “If we did just that, the mill rate would change a lot. Our current rate is 8.47, and if we just do the transfer, the mill rate would be 9.06. If we transferred additional funds, if we did $800,000 it would be 8.23, $850,000 it would be 8.17 and $900,000 would be 8.12.”
The board voted to transfer an additional $850,000 from Fund 10 for the project, making it a grand total of $1,545,000 being transferred from the general fund.
In addition to the infant care center, Endreas brought up another project on the school’s dome. Last winter, he said they were made aware of a problem with the snow load on the building causing snow to fall on top of the entrances to the dome. To correct the safety hazard, three canopies would be added to the entrances, one at the fitness center entrance and one for each of the locker rooms. Originally, he said the bid for the project was $49,682, but if the project was tied to the infant care center project and done at the same time, the district would save $10,000. The board voted to accept the project for the $39,682 cost.
In other action taken by the board at the meeting, the board received an update on some items that would be discussed in more detail at its August meeting. Cheerleading is being considered to be brought back to the district, with the members of the board leaning in favor of returning cheerleading as a club rather than as a sport. The board will also consider a proposal to add esports for students. The next Spencer School Board meeting will be Aug. 16 at 6:30 p.m.
