On May 2, the Park Rapids School Board awarded the Helten Avenue Tennis Court reconstruction project to Gladen Construction, Inc. of Laporte.
Gladen’s bid for the project came to $493,825.
According to Austin May, project engineer at ICS, there were four bids for the project, three of which were in the range of $500,000. May said this confirmed ICS’ cost estimates for the project, totaling $499,785.
Other bids came from Anderson Brothers Construction ($505,439), Rigid Construction ($526,166) and Gordon Construction ($634,726).
Board member Dennis Dodge asked if Gladen had ever built tennis courts. May said he has some experience as a general contractor on tennis court projects, but much of the work has been subcontracted to Sanquist Construction of Park Rapids.
May said Gladen was eager to get the project started, which is set to begin on May 23.
School board member Stephanie Carlson made a motion to award the offer to Gladen. The motion passed unanimously.
In a more in-depth discussion of high school additions and renovations, May said design development is about 50% complete and soil surveys are underway for construction sites.
He said teachers and staff recently visited Sartell Schools to get a feel for a school similar to the proposed design. In the meantime, design work is continuing on new car parks, playgrounds and a bus garage in the district.
The school board has postponed its meetings to July, August and September.
School Council meetings are held regularly at 6:00 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month. However, due to the holidays of July 4 and Labor Day (September 5) and to make better use of the five Mondays in August, they decided to meet on Mondays July 11 and 25, August 8 and 22; Tuesday September 6; and Monday, September 19.
The school board also discussed times to interview six candidates for two new vice-principal positions. These interviews are open and public meetings.
They decided to hold two interviews, of about 50 minutes each, starting at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday May 11; four interviews starting at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 12; and a final round of interviews at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17, all in the school board meeting room at the Frank White Education Center.
For consent and general matters, the school board:
- FFA participants recognized by the State. “This is my 12th year of teaching,” said chapter co-counsellor Amber Seibert. “I’ve never had such a good state convention…because of the group of kids we brought. They were awesome.” She noted that several club members will be eligible to compete nationally next year, even if they attend college, and chapter member Autumn Kietzman also received the FFA state diploma. .
- Recognized state address participants. Speech team members Emma Ravnaas and Maeve Bolton presented their routines which ranked seventh and ninth respectively. Head coach Tanya Miller said Bolton, Ravnaas and Reese Hanson are participating in virtual qualifiers this week for the National Speech and Debate Association tournament, to be held in June in Kentucky. Additionally, Ravnaas plans to compete in the National Tournament of Individual Event Champions virtually next weekend.
- Heard High School principal Jeff Johnson reports that the graduation will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 29, on the football field, with the high school gymnasium as a back-up in case of inclement weather.
- Accepted the resignations of Lindsey Trompeter as an elementary ADSIS paraprofessional, effective May 6; Nicole Brandt as a junior high school girl’s tennis coach; Bethany Kern as an Elemental Autism Spectrum Disorder Para, starting May 6; Katelyn Seehafer as the C-team volleyball coach; Synneve Moe as a school psychologist; Cyrus Gust as Head Gymnastics Coach; and Jodi Sullivan as a playground monitor.
- Hiring of Carin Arvik as a basic paraprofessional, effective April 28; Rachel Hogan as Para Elementary, starting May 2; Gunnar Aas as a vocal music teacher for grades 6-12 and Ellie Griess as a 5.25-hour-a-day kitchen helper, both beginning in the 2022-23 school year; and Katelyn Seehafer as a junior varsity volleyball coach.
- Approved volunteers Tate Usher as a golf coach and Joel Newton as a college baseball coach.
- Approval of second readings of a Senior Assistant job description and the Century Adventures manual.
- Posting of a position as a speaker, certified American Sign Language interpreter and language facilitator.
- Approval of a 2022-23 catering contract with MAHUBE-OTWA.
- Designated Superintendent Lance Bagstad as the Official Identified with Authority (IOwA) for the Minnesota Department of Education’s External User Access Recertification System, with Administrative Assistant Kim Splett to act as IOwA only to add and remove names for the district. This is an annual activity item.
- Recognized the donation of a scholarship for five children’s swimming lessons from Sonja Hoag and her daughters, Dianne Barker, Sharon Jaslow and Rhonda McCabe, to the Community Education Program. In a letter to Community Education Director Jill Dickinson, McCabe explained that the gift was in honor of her sister, Lavonne Zafft.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, May 16 at the Frank White Education Center.
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