District plans how in-person classes will look this fall
Lake Holcombe School Board
“I thought we were going to have some guidance from the DPI today, actually, but now the date is June 22,” said Lake Holcombe School District superintendent Kurt Lindau at a regular board meeting June 15.
Lindau said a lot of plans are subject to change at a moment’s notice and that a lot of things have been tossed about, when discussing the reopening of schools in the fall. Lindau said it’s possible the school will need to spread out kids in the cafeteria, restrict visitors, have the kids practice social distancing the best they can and practice good hand washing.
Purell dispensers will also be installed in classrooms and the district may have to limit the use of the school’s facilities.
“I couldn’t tell you about sports right now,” said Lindau. “It’s not feasible to only run eight kids on a school bus. It’s not feasible to have kindergartners wearing masks. We may or may not run after-school programming right away.”
Having sent out a parent survey, district opinion mostly concurred that no one is in favor of the virtual learning platform, with many citing internet connectivity problems.
“I think Lake Holcombe School did an excellent job, under the circumstances, of providing what they could,” said Lindau, who said staff worked very hard the last few months. “The computer never turned off.”
It also appears no one was interested in virtual summer school, including staff, parents and students.
“I think we’re looking at, let’s focus all our energy on the start of the school year,” said Lindau. “People need a break.”
For now, the district wants to get plans in place to start classes in the fall. According to the survey, only a handful of parents were unsure if they would send kids to in-person classes, because of concerns of spreading infection to at-risk family members.
Graduation is still a go and is set for Saturday, Aug. 1, at 11 a.m., before the day gets too hot, with the administration planning for an inside or outside ceremony, depending on the threat of rain. Once the DPI gives more guidance, the public and board will be updated as to what is going to take place.
Tom Hayden, head of maintenance, was on hand at the meeting, to brief members on some of the work that is taking place over the summer. For some of the larger maintenance, much of the projects are going to be contracted out.
One such project, is the school greenhouse, where Hayden plans to pump in heat, as the structure often sees no heat during the fall period when the school boilers are not running. Bartingale Mechanical, Inc. will install an HVAC system for $12,124 in the greenhouse.
The school will also replace doors and hardware in the gym.
“Way back from the early ’50s, it’s been, since we’ve done anything with those,” said Hayden.
Work will also be done on the tennis court, as plans are in the works to develop a pickleball court.
“I think there’s been a lot of excitement about that,” Hayden.
Exterior painting of the gym will also take place and tech ed teacher Andy Lorenzen made goal posts for young kickers on the playground.
“Of course, the roof and boiler projects are now on hold,” said Lindau.
“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get it done this summer,” said Hayden.
A few things did get settled, such as approving a purchase of $38,596.33 from Great Minds, to align the elementary curriculum to Common Core standards. Members also agreed to leave school meal prices the same as last year, and to renew the school’s policy with Delta Dental, in a 0 percent change to rates ($42.21/month for single and $109.02/ month for family).
The board also accepted the resignation of band director Jim Aerts, who, after six years with Lake Holcombe, leaves to accept a similar position with the Chippewa Falls School District.
I have greatly enjoyed my time here at Lake Holcombe and the wonderful musical experiences we have all shared, wrote Aerts. Thank you for the continued support of the music program; I wish all of the best for the music department and the school district in the future.
Chad Lechleitner, middle school girls basketball coach, also stepped down after three years in that position.
Stepping into the open band director position, is Dawn Anderson, who comes from the Thorp School District. Members also approved the hire of Sally Steinke, as a kitchen assistant.
Also accepted, was $100 from Marie Larson, for family self-care packages; and $32.12 from Eastbay Lodge’s Dine & Donate Locally Program, for the music program.
Lindau also reported that through the CARES Act, legislation says Lake Holcombe will see some dollars allocated, in the amount of $103,000. The CARES Act guidance states that funding is to be used to the school’s greatest extent to take care of employees and contracts.
Lindau said the district may be able to use the money to compensate the bus company for the routes they would have run, if the school had not closed in the middle of March.
“There’s very little guidance out there,” said Lindau of the act.
