Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
H-M-S board also adjusts calendar to recover lost instructional time
Upgrades at the baseball and softball diamonds will include new, larger dugouts with attached storage.
The baseball field will receive a variety of improvements, including an enlarged and upgraded warning track.
Bids for several improvements at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School are scheduled to be opened next month. The school board approved the scope of the project on Monday.
According to John Hight, of Beck Engineering, Inc., bids will be opened and tabulated on Feb. 16. Results will be announced at the Feb. 20 meeting, when the board will conduct a hearing and determine whether to award contracts.
BEI will recommend awarding contracts based on bid amounts and whether contractors are able to complete the work set out in the plans and specifications.
Division 1 of the project includes replacing concrete in the southwest corner of the north parking lot; improving stormwater drainage from that lot so surface water does not flow across to the south lot; and paving of the north driveway up to the bus garage.
Improvements to the ball diamonds are included in Division II. Plans for the baseball diamond include replacing the bleachers and press box, enlarging and upgrading the warning track, and updating the backstop with concrete and netting.
Larger dugouts with attached storage will be constructed at both diamonds. Bullpens and batting cages will be relocated and upgraded, and infield surfaces will be improved.
The third part of the project includes retrofitting light fixtures in the south parking lot; installing four light poles in the north lot and two light poles on the south side of the baseball diamond. Electrical services will be upgraded or provided for the new and relocated facilities at both diamonds.
Hight said that work for Division I is to begin on June 5 and be completed by Aug. 11. The second phase will begin on July 17 and is scheduled to be done by Sept. 8. Sept. 29 is the deadline for completion of electrical improvements.
According to Superintendent Patrick Carlin, the district will finance the project with Capital Projects and Physical Plant and Equipment Levy funds.
• Calendar updated
To gain back instructional time lost to snow days, H-M-S is adjusting its calendar for the rest of the year.
All but one of scheduled Wednesday early dismissals for professional development are eliminated. Carlin said the scheduled early-out on April 12 remains on the calendar, as it is needed for staff to prepare for the state assessments.
Snow days on Dec. 13 and 16 will be waived; however, three other days lost to weather will be made up on April 10 and May 23-24. Lost professional development time will be made up at the end of the year.
Carlin said the adjustments are necessary to provides seniors with as much instructional time as possible before their final day on May 15. The rest of the students also need adequate classroom time before statewide assessments are given.
He also clarified the difference between school days (180) and classroom hours (1,080) on the master calendar.
"Counting days is for teacher contracts. What we are concerned about is instructional time," he said. "Our kids are getting 40 more hours than what the state would require."
In other business, the board approved a music field trip to Omaha, and seniors were granted open campus privileges beginning on Jan. 23. The policy governing eligibility for open campus is similar to that used in the past.
