Rib Lake board continues to look at bids, alternates for building project

The Rib Lake school district will break ground on its referendum construction project with a ceremony on March 26 at 10:30 a.m.

Even with the project slated to begin and work to continue both this summer and next, the district continues to make adjustments to the project plans and approve contracts.

More of those plans and bids came up at the February 26 school board meeting as district administrator Travis Grubbs sought blessing from the board on how to handle change orders as they arose during the project. He said that if something was time-sensitive and would hold up the project he would go ahead and review and approve changes. For bigger dollar amount items such as widening the opening on the existing stage, he would bring it to school board for their discussion and direction.

“I think we are in a great spot,” Grubbs said, of the bids that have been received. He said this would allow the district to look at the additional alternate projects that had been on the wish list of the referendum if there were funds available.

Grubbs also updated the board on interaction with the state inspectors regarding the plans. He said the state questioned using the egress doors from the existing gym as emergency exits, because they also lead to a basement storage area. Grubbs said they were able to resolve this by placing gates in front of the stairs to the basement.

A bigger change dealt with the plan to have a sound booth in the mezzanine of the performance space. The state reviewer would not allow it without having full stairs leading into the band practice rooms would would take up a significant amount of space. Instead the state would approve having a platform at the top of the bleachers which would eliminate about 12 seats. The bleachers are designed to hold about 420 people with another 150 to 200 people seated on the floor level.

Grubbs said he felt comfortable with seating for about 570 people in the space. Board members approved going with the platform. This will be a net savings to the overall project.

Board members also reviewed and approved a number of alternate projects to be included: Elementary Parking to Playground Area Mill and Overlay - $233,580 LVT Flooring over the existing terrazzo throughout high school hallways a savings of $8,292 over refinishing the terrazzo.

Installation of new flag poles: $19,942 Relining high school faculty toilet pipes: $14,303 Two performing arts center screens to go on either side of the stage: $18,290 Band Locker claps to allow them to be locked: $4,926 Downspouts extended into sewer drain at the high school: $19,184 Asphalt mix to 4MT-4MT, which while it is a higher grade mix, will be a $5,540 reduction in cost.

The board is holding off on making a decision on converting all the elementary and high school lighting to LED as it awaits word on a potential grant from Focus on Energy.

The board also held off on a decision to potentially widen the stage opening to gain a greater field of view for those seated to the side of the seating area. There were concerns raised that the benefit would not be worth the additional cost.

Calendar

Students and staff will start start earlier than normal next school year.

School board members approved the 2025-2026 school calendar showing a start date for students of August 25. The district had received a waiver from the state to allow school to start prior to September 1 due to the planned construction projects that will be taking place this summer and next summer.

The intent of moving back the scheduled start time, is to guarantee that students will be done by Memorial Day 2026, which will be on May 25. This was done to provide enough time for the kitchen renovations at the high school to be completed for the start of the 20262027 school year.

According to Grubbs, the calendar is routine other than the earlier start date. While graduation is typically is held on the night of the Friday before Memorial Day, the idea was raised of moving it to the Saturday so as to not be at the same day and time as the ceremonies held at Medford and Gilman. The graduation ceremony date for 2026 will be set at a future meeting.

Track renovation project

Thanks to aggressive fundraising, the school board is looking to use district savings to help push a proposed track rehabilitation project into becoming reality.

There has been about $320,000 in fundraising donations so far for the track replacement. Earlier this year, the board gave Grubbs the go-ahead to contract with a company to do some boring work and determine what would be needed to and some firm estimates on a track replacement project.

The plan would be to replace the existing six-lane track with a new track with a rubberized surface over asphalt. Grubbs said he received three bids for the work. The first was from American Asphalt which included both the base and working with Point of Beginnings for the design work and surface.

Fisher Tracks also submitted a bid for just the rubber surfacing and REI submitted a proposal to put all the pieces together.

Grubbs noted that with American being the source of asphalt for the region, no one would be able to beat their bid. He also noted that Point of Beginning has a high

See RIB LAKE on page 14 reputation in working with schools.

Grubbs recommended going with the American Asphalt/Point of Beginning contract with about a $450,000 overall project cost. The actual amount could vary based on if the district pulverized the existing blacktop track surface and used it in place of removing all the material and bringing in fresh gravel.

Grubbs said while this could potentially save money, there could be concern about the base having cracking issues in the future. He said the removal of everything and bringing in new material is the 100% correct way to do it that would have it last a longer time. A track should last about 15 to years, Grubbs said.

Grubbs said bringing in fresh gravel would raise the cost by about $66,000 which would raise the cost of the project to $480,000 to $490,000.

Board member Rollie Thums said it is common to use pulverized asphalt as road bed materials. “To me getting rid of group up asphalt is a waste,” Thums said.

Thums also did not like the idea that it would still only be a six-lane track. Grubbs said making it eight lanes would add $150,000 to the project without much gain in the size of meets the school could host given the size of the community. He noted that Edgar has a six-lane track and hosts larger meets with six to seven teams.

Board member Peter Meyer favored the plan to bring in fresh gravel noting it would be a bigger waste to have a track that did not last as long.

It was noted that the asphalt torn up from the track could potentially be used with district parking lots to prevent it from going to waste.

Grubbs said they are looking at some potential donors that could help bring down the cost for the district. He suggested they could get the project done using the district’s Fund 46 long term projects account to meet the difference between what is raised and the total.

He said the decision on the base could be finalized as the project advances, but their intent would be to get it on the calendar for American Asphalt to work on this summer and allow the work to be completed by next October.

Board members agreed and voted to accept the bid from American Asphalt and Point of Beginning.

In other business, board members:

• Accepted the achievement gap reduction report from Dallmann showing the district in on pace for meeting the proficiency goals for reading and math for elementary grades. The district has set a goal of is for students to be at the 80th percentile compared to peers at other schools. “A goal of 80th percentile is very rigorous. All grade levels on on target to meet that,” Dallmann said.

• Approved the middle school STEM Club to go on an overnight competition to Waukesha. This trip is in place of one previously approved and Grubbs noted it will be slightly cheaper. The STEM Club has fundraised and received donations to help cover the cost of the trip. In related action, board members formally approved setting up a school account for the STEM Club.

• Received an update for plans for Summer School with two sessions of swimming to take place in Phillips.

• Received an update on federal funding for the district. Grubbs noted the that this is a lot going with it. He reported on attending Rep. Tom Tiffany’s listening session and asking about the Secure Rural Schools Act funding which was removed from the most recent federal budget, directly eliminating $42,000 in revenue from the Rib Lake school District budget. By comparison, the starting wage of a teacher in the district is $44,000. The money is to compensate districts with large areas of nontaxable federal forests. Rib Lake schools has 48,000 acres of national forest in it. Grubbs also noted the future of about $260,000 in federal title funding for things like special education remain in question due to federal cuts.

• Approved the other post employment benefit annual report. This is money the district sets aside each year to pay for health insurance for recent retirees. He noted the district put into the fund about the same amount as had been taken out and that the district is on the higher end of a bubble that he expects will go down as the number of retirees eligible for it decreases.