By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Bowling Green Board of Education agreed to seek bids for a project that few people will actually see – but some may smell the results.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday evening to go out for bids for repairs to the boys shower room in the high school locker room. Large cracks in the room have meant athletes and gym students have not been able to use the showers.
The estimated cost for the work is $373,800, according to Kent Buehrer, of Buehrer Group.
In addition to fixing the shower room, the project will also make other improvements.
“Whenever you go into a 50-year-old building for renovations, there are other issues,” Buehrer told the board. Improvements will make the area ADA compliant, add adequate storage and increase the training room space.
“We’re trying to get the most bang out of the buck,” Buehrer said.
The board also approved going out for bids for resurfacing of the track, with an estimated cost of $75,000.
The new track surface will be latex, which should last eight to 10 years. With routine maintenance, it could last even longer, Scruci said.
Both projects are scheduled to take two months to complete, which is an “aggressive” schedule, Buehrer said.
In other business, Scruci gave an update on the 2,000 surveys mailed out to random district residents on the school building options. As of Monday, 300 had been returned, which is a rate of 15 percent. Another 300 online survey questionnaires have been submitted.
The results of the survey will be presented at the board’s meeting in April.
Scruci pointed out that any building plans need to take into consideration that the Middle School currently houses sixth, seventh and eighth grades – when it was constructed for just two grades.
“We packed three grade levels in there,” with about 700 total students, he said.
The Middle School was designed to be added onto – and that needs to be considered as part of the overall district plan, Scruci said.
Also at Tuesday’s board meeting, Scruci noted that the school district had used its fifth calamity day on Tuesday due to heavy fog. The district’s “blizzard bags” are ready to go if it’s necessary to close again, he said.
Scruci explained that the Bowling Green district has to make school delay or closing decisions earlier than most school districts because it is 118 square miles which means bus routes start earlier in the morning. The district had to close Tuesday because the fog “was as thick as pea soup,” he said.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting:
- The board recognized JoBeth Gonzalez and Amy Dible for working with the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Fellows program. The program arranges for international teachers to observe in classrooms. Dible said the teacher from the Ivory Coast helped her class better understand human rights violations.
- The board also recognized Gonzalez for her upcoming honor of being named to a hall of fame at a thespian conference. Though such honors often come upon retirement, Gonzalez said she has no plans to stop teaching. “I think there’s a lot more to do,” she said.
- Scruci reported the recent high winds had damaged the roof of the field house and bent a goal post. The district is waiting to hear if the damage will be covered by insurance.
- Scruci said 74 teaching candidates attended the district’s job fair. He explained that last year’s early job fair helped the district get its pick of new teachers. “We call them rock stars. That’s what we’re looking for,” he said.
- The board learned that Lisa Mayberry was retiring after 33 years teaching with Bowling Green City Schools. “She’s a true professional,” who is always putting the children first, Conneaut Principal Jim Lang said.
- Treasurer Rhonda Melchi reported that so far 197 ½ security “boots” had been adopted for school doors. The district needs a total of 340. “It says a lot about our community,” she said about the donations.
- Board member Ginny Stewart praised the elementary art programs for providing artwork for the upcoming Interfaith Breakfast. The children were asked to create art showing “what does peace look like to you?”
- The board learned that the high school marching band will be traveling to Grayson, Kentucky, for its band camp this summer. The camp, from July 16 to 21, is being paid for by students and band boosters.
- The board recognized recent successes of the girls and boys bowling teams, the cheer team, swimming team, and basketball player Kendal Glandorf who was named NLL Player of the Year and is the all-time female leading scorer at BGHS.
