Colby board updated on facilities, upgrades staff computers
By Nathaniel Underwood
An update on the Colby School District’s facilities upgrades over the last year was given at Monday’s school board meeting. The board also approved the purchase of 95 new computers for staff and 20 replacement devices at the high school library.
The presentation on the district’s facilities was part of the board’s strategic planning progress monitoring process, which typically occurs every two to three months. The board was updated on both the internal spaces and the school grounds, as well as the athletic facilities.
Key changes to the interior spaces included a new faculty planning center in the high school, updated smartboards in the high school and middle school and a major reworking of the shop spaces in the high school and the upstairs area in the elementary school.
By moving the high school faculty planning center to a space that had been used for storage, the space that had been previously utilized as the faculty planning center was converted into an additional English Language Learning (ELL) classroom. While the new planning center space is smaller than the previous one, it was noted that the size seemed more appropriate for the usage. Also, the flexibility allowed by using the old space as an ELL classroom has helped make those services more effective in the high school.
Shop spaces were reorganized and equipment was anchored down to make the area safety compliant. Similarly, storage areas in the upstairs portion of the elementary school were cleaned up and reorganized, allowing for more space to be used for meetings or other faculty purposes.
Updates to the exterior spaces include the addition of a solar panel near the track concession stand, the removal of dead trees on the grounds and in the school forest and the resurfacing of the front elementary parking lot. The changes to the parking lot were noted as particularly helpful, with the new lines opening up parking on the south side of the lot while the pickup lane on the north side allows for better flow of traffic during drop-off and pick-up times.
Athletic facility enhancements included updates to basketball hoop systems in the elementary and middle school, the repainting of the high school gym as well as updating the fans and improvements for the baseball and softball fields with the rebuilding of the baseball field mound, the purchase of protective tarps and increasing the weed control budget to cover the summer months in addition to the spring.
Computer purchases
The board moved to purchase 95 replacement computers for district staff as well as 20 computers to be used at the mobile cart station in the high school library for approximately $150,000. About $11,500 of that will come from Common School Funds, which is state funded aid targeted for school libraries that will help cover half the cost of the high school library computers.
The replacement of the staff devices was initially scheduled for next year. However, concerns that prices could go up in the near future due to tariffs prompted the purchase of the computers now.
“This is money that we had accounted for going into next school year, but if we wait until July 1, we fear that there might be an increase of 15 percent or more because of possible tariff increases and inflation that might go along with that,” superintendent Patrick Galligan explained.
In addition to the potential future savings if prices do increase over the next few months, the quote that the district received from Dell Technologies also saved money on the devices now.
Galligan noted that each device was several hundred dollars cheaper than normally priced, which would result in roughly $30,000 in savings.
Purchasing now would also give the IT department more time to implement the new devices over the summer, allowing them to get the new computers into the hands of staff more quickly.
Other business
■ The district was able to lock in a rate of 4.2 percent on its long term referendum loan, which is a full percentage point lower than the estimated rate given last fall. This, combined with the structuring of the short term loan over the first year, should lead to the district saving approximately $3.4 mil-
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lion in interest over the life of the 20-year loan, according to Galligan. This will also likely result in a smaller impact on property tax levies than expected. Some smaller projects are expected to begin this summer while bids on the major projects are still planned to go out in August or September.
■ The board approved a new CESA 10 contract for the 2025-26 school year.
■ New hires approved by the board included Brian Popp as the new middle school principal, Hilary Thums as elementary school counselor, Maria Gonzales-Garcia as an ELL teacher assistant in the elementary school, Hayden Willner as an assistant track and field coach, Tim Rau as the new high school golf coach and Jason Christenson as the new JV golf coach.
Transfers included Becky Schmelzer and Emily Brenner moving to third grade teachers and Olyvia Pierce as a special education teacher in the high school. Shawn Bellendorf resigned as the girls middle school basketball coach.
