Some school board members appeared surprised when Supt. Dr. Mike Woods told them there would not be an official grand opening of the $8.4 million Eagle Event Center until August. One was definitely sur

One was definitely surprised when he saw a $30,000 encumbrance to Vector Concepts, a commercial flooring company, for “walking track leveler” at the event center

“Is the building not level?” asked board member Luke Lough at their Mon., March 2 meeting.

Woods said the problem is on the second floor walking trail and Vector would start work on it the next day.

There was also a $1,175 encumbrance listed to 132 Bison Machine to “Modify railing– event center.”

Woods said the construction manager from Wynn Construction would only be there for two more weeks.

“Tell me we’re not going to have an 18-inch PVC pipe sticking out of the wall,” Lough said.

Woods said they’d take care of that, and “there are just some things that weren’t done.”

He said he’d talked with their attorney, Phyllis Walta, about some problems. “We’re just pushing to get the center finished,” he said.

Work continues

“The cabinetry went in today and they will start cleaning the locker rooms tomorrow.”

Woods said they will be polishing and finishing the concrete later this month, and there are lots of small items to add such as “soap dispensers, paper towel units.”

“The Score Vision (scoreboard/scorekeeping software) people are to be here the 23rd.”

Already installed is a 10-by-32-foot video screen at the south end and a 7-by-10 screen at the north end, plus six monitors in the lobby.

“Right now we’re a little under the $8.4 million cost,” Woods said, and striping in the parking lots is planned for Saturday, along with installation of traffic signs.

Prom and Graduation

In spite of some of the problems, Woods said the center will be ready for the prom next month and graduation in May, but they might not have all the amenities in place, though the bathrooms should be ready.

Tornado Shelter

At an earlier meeting, he’d said there will be no more “who has the key to the shelter?” questions. “The front doors into the Eagle Event Center will automatically open and the lights will come on when there is an alert signal from the National Weather Service about a tornado.”

Dedication Plaque at Dome

The board tabled a request from the Masonic Lodge to place a dedication plaque at the event center until the superintendent could come up with a policy that would cover all such requests.

Woods said he was unsure if the Masons’ request would include burying a time capsule.

Community Survey OK’d

Woods asked and was given permission to “publish a community survey.”

He said it would give the public an option to weigh in on how they think the school is working for their children, and for the community.

Woods said their answers would be anonymous, but it would be a good indicator and tool for the faculty and administration.

The survey will be on-line, he said.

Finances and State Aid

Woods made another presentation this month about how the state aid formula is weighted over a three-year rolling period.

The process is complicated and records of ADM (Average Daily Membership) and ADA (Average Daily Attendance) are kept. He said that certain grades are weighted more than others. A high school senior is weighted 1.2, while others are lower, and there are certain fields for students with needs, gifted, economically disadvantaged and bilingual.

There is also an “isolation weight” if a school is in a large area where there are no other facilities.

It’s also weighted depending upon how many students live 1-1/2 miles away from the school, and Woods said Hennessey has 456 students who could be transported under that formula.

They currently don’t have enough buses to transport that many students on a daily basis, he said.

Woods commended Timberly Jech, business manager, for keeping the formula date sheets updated daily. Jech also serves as the recording secretary for meetings.

February financials weren’t available due to the early meeting date. The board’s regular meeting is the second Monday of each month, but was changed due to a scheduling issue by a board member.

All board members were present: President Patrick Griffin, Vice President Dr. James Matthew Matousek, Clerk Luke Lough, Joe Garrison and Cristopher Choate.