By Karla Pomeroy
Editor
Upgrades coming to Washakie County School District 1
WORLAND — After several delays over the past few years, a bid for the remodel of the Worland High School family and consumer science area was accepted by the Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees Monday night.
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WORLAND — After several delays over the past few years, a bid for the remodel of the Worland High School family and consumer science area was accepted by the Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees Monday night.
Business Manager Jack Stott said the district received three bids and all were more in line with the budget, than the bids the district received in May. The board postponed the project and rebid it in January in hopes of getting bids more in line with the budget.
Stott recommended, and the board approved Fox General Construction of Ten Sleep for $319,933.
Funding for the project is coming from the district’s major maintenance fund. Funds in major maintenance can only be used for improvements on the “physical plant,” Superintendent David Nicholas said.
Stott said in an earlier interview that the renovation includes modernizing equipment including a commercial kitchen “so they have what’s more relevant to what they are learning.”
He added that arrangements have been made for asbestos removal.
Two other projects were also approved, also using major maintenance funding.
The board approved an upgrade to the district surveillance system for $167,900. The project includes replacing and upgrading all cameras in the district. Stott said currently there is only exterior cameras at the three elementary schools. The project calls for adding interior cameras.
There are already interior and exterior cameras at the middle school and high school but additional cameras will be added at both schools to increase coverage.
“Will we have 100 percent coverage everywhere? No. Unless we want to spend $2 million we never would but we’ll have better coverage and better cameras,” Stott said. He added that the new cameras will be high definition cameras, compared to the standard definition currently installed.
The bid from the recommended company, Ad Tech Alarm of Cody, includes network video recorders at all schools. He said additional storage space will be likely be needed and asked the board to approve an additional $19,045. He said the district likes to keep a month’s worth of recordings.
He said there will be more than 200 cameras throughout the district. There is a three-year warranty on the cameras and five-year on recorders with an additional two years if the district registers the equipment.
The district accepted a bid of $27,681 from Viral Electric to replace lighting in all gym spaces in the district. He said the district will receive about $9,000 a program through Rocky Mountain Power.
Stott also reported that Verizon is working on the zoning exemption for the cell tower that will be installed at the football stadium. The board approved the tower at a meeting last year.
PERSONNEL
In personnel matters, the board is again offering an early retirement incentive similar to the incentive offered last year. The district will offer $20,000, payable in two installments in 2018 and 2019. Those interested must have worked in the district for at least 10 years, Nicholas explained. They also must have met the Wyoming Department of Education 85 rule (age and years of experience).
•The board accepted the resignation of speech pathologist Sarah Nelson, effective the end of the year.
•The board hired Ruth Vega as West Side and East Side part-time night housekeeper.
•The board hired four soccer coaches — Courtney Burky, high school girls assistant; Brianna Scholl, high school girls practice goalie coach; Brian Hopkinson, middle school head boys coach; Matt Mueller, middle school assistant boys coach.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Monday’s meeting:
•The WHS student council representatives reported that the annual Warrior Pageant will be April 16.
•The board set a work session for 6 p.m. on March 26. They also set a hearing for a student regarding attendance at noon on Friday.
•The board approved, with Anna Venable opposed, changes to the 2018-2019 school calendar. Nicholas reported that speakers from the RTI Institute are coming to Worland for professional development training. Another training is Cagen Training in August.
He said the RTI Institute will be coming Aug. 20-22, which means moving the start of school back three days on Aug. 23. “We’ve got to make up three days,” Nicholas said. The days that will no longer be out of school are Dec. 21, 2018, March 8, 2019; and moving the end of school back one day to May 24, 2018, instead of May 23.
