The albatross around the neck of the board of education, the Holly Glen school, is soon to be off the ground. At the most recent board of education meeting, Superintendent Richard Perry confirmed the process is working ahead of schedule.
“In regard to Holly Glen, it’s moving along very well, we’re actually ahead of schedule,” he said. “We’re working very collaboratively with the township right now, there’s a couple outstanding permits we’re addressing and we’re eventually going to get a CCO, which is different than a certificate of occupancy, it’s a continuance of a certificate of occupancy.”
Perry said the rooms are being painted, the floors are being waxed and the cleanup is almost complete. Once that’s finished and the CCO is in hand, the staff will be able to get back in the classrooms to prepare for the upcoming school year. He said a Google document is available for staff to see updates. The website will be updated with frequently asked questions and other general information as it becomes available, including updates on other buildings in the district.
Board Vice President Jeff Simpler questioned the application process for the CCO, district facilities manager Butch Berglund said the process is short enough that they can receive the certification before the school year. Simpler reminded Berglund they only have six weeks.
“It won’t hold us up, I promise you that,” Berglund said.
“Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen,” Simpler replied.
“Absolutely, you have my word on that,” Berglund finished.
Keeping with the theme of being up-to-date on facility management, resident Jennifer Lewis-Gallagher questioned the board on the potential to go out for a bond referendum in November’s election.
Perry said the district is looking for ways to save money. He noted many facilities beyond Holly Glen could need repairs in the future, referencing aging roofs specifically. He said they want to do analysis of facilities 15 years in the future to recognize the needs and seek possible financing options in advance instead of acting in emergency fashion.
The board is in a research stage, according to Perry. He said a bond will come to fruition in 2021 for $15 million. In his previous districts, Perry said they would rotate bonds when one comes off, supplant one to stay in front of facilities with relatively no tax impact, though he couldn’t say for sure what the impact would be.
“We don’t have any plans right now,” he said of going out for a bond referendum in November. “If we do something like that, whenever I was involved in other districts, we want to spend at least a year communicating that, investigating it, getting input from the public not just with board meetings but open meetings, inviting people, creating committees then really getting into it.”
One of the reasons to go for a bond referendum is because the 85 percent of the operational budget is tied into salaries and benefits and with the 2 percent tax levy the board has minimal room to put money into the capital and maintenance reserve accounts.
“To answer your question, no, there is not going to be a bond referendum in November,” Perry added. “If anything, next year or the upcoming school year we’ll be investigating more, communicating with the public and exploring it to see where it’s going to go from there.”
In other news:
- Resident Deb DeFelice asked about hiring a new vice principal with the theory of having one for every grade. She requested the board consider hiring a student assistant counselor, SAC, because they only have one in the high school.
“We can readjust the money to suit your needs because you want another vice principal, but we can’t bring in a SAC who makes a fraction of what a VP does. Vice principals handle discipline, SAC handles emotional, bullying, drugs, alcohol and more. What’s wrong with this picture?” DeFelice said.
Perry said he wouldn’t be interested in an either-or situation, he would be interested in adding an additional SAC with a vice principal if they could work it into the budget.
“I bring this up all the time,” DeFelice responded. “I bring up the discipline policy, hasn’t been updated since 2014. The attendance policy is done, hasn’t been approved yet. What are we waiting for? What’s the priority? You guys are all up there, and I mean administrators as well, you chose to be up there. You chose a profession. Ask yourself tonight, ‘Why am I in this?’ and if your answer isn’t the children you should step down because I’m tired of it.”
DeFelice added the same people come month after month to the meetings and said nothing gets done and the children are suffering because of it.
“We’re reactive, we’re not proactive in anything. And at what expense? Our kids. I’m tired of people bringing in friends and family into this district.”
- Resident Kristina Richmond asked about getting new lawnmowers for Aramark to upkeep the facilities in the district. Berglund responded saying some tractors are from 1996 and the grounds crew could use updated equipment. Lisa Schulz, the business administrator, said they looked into it last year but it wasn’t in the budget and over the bid threshold. It’s now on the radar and will be discussed at an upcoming meeting.
- Richmond also brought up the fact that Aramark, her members in the grounds crew department can no long drive their trailers around because they’re not tagged correctly or registered. The board is looking into a solution for that as well.
- The next board of education meeting is scheduled for Wednesday Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Maple Grove Administration Building, this meeting is open to the public.
