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Rec center location study continues

School Board pushes for decison from final report, formal request

Keith Vandervort
Posted 9/27/17

ELY – A series of sub-committee meetings between the Ely School Board and the Ely Regional Community Complex, and a seven-page report of findings is apparently not sufficient to answer all of the …

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Rec center location study continues

School Board pushes for decison from final report, formal request

Posted

ELY – A series of sub-committee meetings between the Ely School Board and the Ely Regional Community Complex, and a seven-page report of findings is apparently not sufficient to answer all of the questions and concerns revolving around the proposal to place a recreation center complex on the west end of the school campus.

The submission of a more complete report, a formal request to the school board, and deliberation followed by an up or down vote, could perhaps be completed by the end of the year.

School board members gathered for a study session Monday night to clear a path forward in making a decision on the multi-million dollar project that will not only impact the school, but the entire community.

Tom Omerza, school board member and ERCC sub-committee participant, described the intent of both parties is to “come to a decision sooner rather than later.” He indicated that a more complete report on the feasibility of the project being located on school property is needed.

He downplayed the notion of having endless meetings and endless reports issued on the project. “There is nothing to act on when you do that,” he said. “My take on what the ERCC board came up with, in large part, is to put together as complete of a report as possible, addressing all the issues that the board and the community has come up with, and to provide information,” he said.

He also wants a request that formally asks the school board for a decision to move forward with building the rec center on school property.

“The intent is to not piece-meal this anymore, but to put together a complete report that we can have a full study session on, and then look to vote at the next opportunity,” Omerza said. “We have a lot of good information and the big thing is to get that information out there. We want to make a decision with as much information and knowledge as possible.”

School board chair Ray Marsnik gave his approval to the decision-making process. “At the present time there has been no written formal request from the ERCC to build this complex on our campus,” he said. “Until that happens, there is nothing to vote on.”

He stressed the importance of having a request in writing. “Also, with that request, should come the complete (information) package so that we will have the opportunity to look at the whole scope of the project,” he said.

“I can honestly say that I cannot make an educated decision on this right now with the data that I have,” Marsnik said. “I have to know how this school district plans to use that facility. I also have to know what will be the role of the school board. When we have that complete package, along with the formal request, we can discuss it.”

Marsnik voiced his frustration with the amount of time taken by the school board on the rec center issue. “We have to move on. I’m sort of getting tired of this. We have to move on. I hope that we don’t have any further discussion until we get that information from the ERCC.”

That completed report, according to Omerza will address such issues as facility management, security, insurance, ownership, traffic and parking, tax consequences for the school, and other financial liabilities. “Now, this will not be to the dollar, because there is no three years of past history to reference,” he cautioned. “We have had lots of eye balls on this and I’m confident we will have a very thorough report.”

School board member James Pointer said much of the information presented has been about how Grand Marais and other places run similar recreational facilities. “I want to know how (ERCC board) wants it done here,” he said.

He referenced security procedures. “Are they going to do background checks on every single person? Are they going to have security doors and only one way in? To know how they want to handle those things should be part of the proposal,” he said.

School board member Heidi Mann said she is looking forward to a complete report with more information on the financial picture of the facility. “That is a big chunk of detail that we all felt is missing,” she said. “At this point, I wouldn’t feel comfortable making a decision either.”

She also asked that the final report contain information on the challenges for the school and community of having a rec center facility in town. “Are there challenges to having it on school property rather than some other site in town?” she asked.

Marsnik added that one of his major concerns when the JFK school building was closed was losing a gymnasium for the students. “We have had a lot of discussion over this in the past, and I have come to the conclusion that an additional gym might be nice for after-school activities, but I see that gym vacant more often than not during the school day,” he said. “I’ve heard that we need another gym for physical education purposes, and I’m not sure I can agree with that.”

Mann said the reality of having the rec center facility on school property is years away from completion, but meanwhile the issue of improving the student drop-off and pick-up issue is not being addressed. “To wait until this is completed is a long time to wait,” she said.

Superintendent Kevin Abrahamson hesitated to say a new student drop-off and pick-up plan is in the works. “It is in concept,” he said. “Other decisions would impact that. A number of options are pending. There are a number of things we can do now at minimal expense to increase safety.”

Marsnik concluded the discussion by asserting that the school board is not responsible for finding solutions to any problems associated with the rec center complex. “That has to come from the ERCC board,” he said. “They have to come up with solutions to questions that we have.”

Strategic planning

Abrahamson told school board members that some of the goals of the long-range strategic planning project need to be reworked and a rollout of the plan is still several months away.

“The goal of developing a 21st century curriculum for life-long learning, for instance, should be broadened to include all of the curricular areas,” he said. “We want broader goals and more things that we are doing for each goal instead of just one or two things.”

He said he didn’t believe that reworking the goals would take too much time. “I think this will facilitate staff buy-in,” he said. “If we make these a bit more specific under the objectives in what will be done, then the goal itself can be a bit more general. They will be more multi-faceted, rather than single- focused.”

He also noted that the technology goal could be incorporated into the curriculum content or the curriculum access goals. “Technology as a separate entity really does not exist for us. We want to get away from that. Technology and curriculum should be seamless,” he said.

Abrahamson said the new broader goals approach would be more workable and understandable. “I think we have a better focus now,” he said. Another strategic planning meeting will be planned for October or November.

Other business

In a special meeting held after the study session, the board took the following action:

•Hired Stacy Hegfors for the part-time paraprofessional position, at 6.5 hours per day, five days per week, beginning Sept. 20;

•Approved the Memorandum of Agreement on Alternative Teacher Professional Pay for 2017-2018 and 2018-2019;

OK’d the Q Comp budget for fiscal year 2018.