By Jolene Farley
The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board set a time and date for a public forum on the proposed locker room and fitness center project.
The forum and open house are planned for Monday, March 3, in the high school gymnasium. Tours of the locker rooms will be offered before the forum, from 6:30 to 7:20 p.m. and continue after the meeting is over.
Superintendent Dave Deragisch will open the forum with a history of the construction project, including results of two surveys mailed to district residents.
Discussion topics include building requirements, where the new locker rooms will be located and the proposed materials for the project.
Information will be provided on the estimated property tax impact of the project, according to property type, and changes in property taxes since 2001.
Deragisch asked board members if they thought written statements from area coaches should be included with the other information.
"They (the coaches) all said point blank, "You have the worst locker rooms," he said.
Agendas for the public forum will be posted in Hills, Beaver Creek and Steen.
Voters will go to the polls Tuesday, March 11, to decide on the proposed $400,000 levy needed for the project.
School budget cuts
The full February state aid payments were dispersed despite Minnesota Governor Pawlenty’s budget cuts, according to Deragisch.
"You don’t know how I was worrying about the February payment," he told the board.
"Everyone in this room and everyone in these communities will be affected by these budget cuts," he said.
Costa Rica trip
Spanish teacher Teri Richards updated the board on the student trip to Costa Rica, Central America, in June.
Richards assured the board that the company that booked the trip will postpone or refund the money for the trip if the United States goes to war and it is unsafe to travel.
Twenty Hills-Beaver Creek students are signed up for the joint science and Spanish trip.
"We’re going to make the best decision," said Richards. "We’re not going to put anyone in any danger."
Curriculum update
The Curriculum Advisory committee meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11, touched on many topics. The language arts program purchased last spring from Scholastic was discussed.
Roger Jackson presented information on adding three classes, pre-algebra, consumer math and geometry to the curriculum.
Business, Industrial Arts/Technology and Vocational Agriculture are on the cycle to purchase textbooks for this year.
The Power Mechanics class is pricing hoists for the shop. The class maintains some school vehicles. Cost for a hoist is estimated at around $5,500.
Steve Wiertzema is looking at new Accounting I and II textbooks.
A sub-committee was formed to research and evaluate the current science curriculum and prepare for when textbooks are due to be purchased next spring.
In other board business:
oEnrollment projections are stable for the next few years.
"We are seeing a very steady, consistent number of students from year to year," Deragisch said. "We’re a very efficient one-section school."
oConcession stand sales totaled $11,349 this year. Of this amount, various groups received $4,539.
