ELY- The Ely School Board approved a change order allocating an additional $95,193.91 for ongoing construction during its Monday meeting.
The change order includes $52,693.62 to repair the exterior wall of the hockey arena and an additional $42,500.29 associated with changes in scope, delays in bid awards, and the start of work.
It’s the second change order to affect the construction process. The first change order reduced construction costs by $6.5 million after dropping several items, including redoing the entire shell of the hockey arena, putting a new coating on the football grandstand, and constructing an ADA-accessible ramp in the grandstand. Currently planned expenditures for renovations total $4.6 million, $480,000 short of the $5.25 million in IRRR funding allocated.
Project completion dates were also revised. Substantial completion of the concessions and restroom facility has been pushed to Dec. 1, and the substantial completion date for the gymnasium is now Aug. 31. The gym’s completion date coincides with Ely’s first girls volleyball home game against Deer River.
In other action Monday, the board:
• Hired Peter Thien as a new social studies teacher.
• Approved a new Chromebook agreement.
• Authorized a $60,302.70 purchase of new math curriculum materials.
• Approved several memorandums of understanding between the district and employee associations regarding the move to the four-day school week.
 Also at the meeting were the first readings of several policy updates that will bring Ely into alignment with recommendations from the Minnesota School Boards Association. The changes affect the Equal Employment policy, data policy, drug-free workplace policies, and bullying policy. The second reading and adoption of the policy updates will take place at the board’s next meeting.