Lake Holcombe School Board; After-school to continue, summer school funded
Lake Holcombe School Board member Debbi Readinger (left) administered the oath of office April 24, to newly elected members Matt Flater and Tess Engel, during the reorganizational meeting. Also determined, was that Brian Guthman would be board president, while Flater was named vice president, Readinger acts as clerk and Jamie Tester-Morfoot is the treasurer. Photo by Joy Dain
By Ginna Young
There was good news at the April 24, Lake Holcombe School Board meeting, as two important pieces of the district education have been funded.
Thanks to efforts from administration and staff, Lake Holcombe has received a five-year, $400,000 grant, to continue with 21st Century Learning Center after-school programming.
“So, we’ll have an after-school program for the next five years,” said district administrator Kurt Lindau.
They also received a two-year, $100,000, per year, summer school grant, which will free up local dollars to balance the district’s budget.
“It’s great to hear,” said Lindau. Also finalized, was the Red Cross shelter agreement that’s been in the works since an ice storm took many residents’ power last December, leaving them with no way to keep warm or stay clean. That was a concern to Lindau, so he partnered with the Red Cross to come up with a solution.
“In some kind of a disaster, the school would be opened up and Red Cross would help us out,” he said.
Also approved, was a proposal from VoIP Supply, for upgrades to the ancient and unreliable clock system that is currently in place within the school.
“So, we started working on this project almost a year ago,” said Lindau, adding that the first bids came back sky high. “We had to circle back and come up with a new plan.”
Using one-time ESSER III funds, the new clock system will improve school functionality for years to come. The double-sided clocks will be installed in classrooms and hallways, as well as two installed in each gym.
The clocks will be accurate within a couple milliseconds.
“It’ll never be out of sync,” said technology coordinator Dale Mahalko.
The system is also set up for tones to let students know exactly how much time they have between periods and can bring back capability for two-way paging. Events can also be programmed in with audio and graphics, along with flashing notifications of what period is next, which will help students who have hearing issues.
“They can see the notifications,” said Mahalko.
The board also approved a contract with Security Health Plan, through the Northwest Area Health Insurance Cooperative renewal, which helps pool resources for coverage options “It’s a 9 percent increase this year,” said Lindau.
Members also approved a 2 percent hourly increase for support staff, as well as a 2 percent increase for administrators and administrative support staff.
Also approved, were the track, golf, baseball and softball co-op agreements with the Cornell School District.
The board also approved the hire of school nurse Dr. Pam Guthman; first-grade teacher Phaedra McDougall; and head girls basketball coach Chris Clark.
They also accepted the resignation of first-grade teacher Brandon Baldry; elementary interventionist Juli Maciosek; and head girls basketball coach Chad Lechleitner.
In addition, the board accepted $43.33, from Eastbay Lodge, to the music department and $43.33, to the football program; $500, from the Lake Holcombe Lions Club, to the Angel Fund; $100, from Mary Hatleberg and Steven Rogers, to the FFA; and $250, from Mulehide Mfg., for the weight room.
Even though it appears snow may finally be but a distant memory until winter next school year, Lindau says he had to recalculate hours of instruction, after all the snow days.
“The plan at this point, is still to make the last day of school an early release, pending any more snowstorms,” said Lindau.
Allowing for a conflict, the next school board meeting will be at 5 p.m., Monday, May 15.
