Wednesday, May 23, 2007

School News Update

There were some notable developments from last week's Dorchester School board meeting. According to the meeting minutes, board members voted 6-0 to accept the resignation of Superintendent Alan Ehlers. The resignation is effective June 30.

Also, the board received a donation from the Connie Skrivanek Family Trust to be used as the school deems necessary. The girls basketball assistant position remains open, while the board approved a contract for Patricia Niemoth as the high school science instructor for the upcoming school year.

The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be June 11 at 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, as this weekend's DHS Alumni Banquet nears, Don Eret reports that several more out-of-town alums plan to attend. They include: Warren Miller, Jeanette August Logan, Patricia Pribyl Owen, Jean Beggs Kinnamon, Tom Busboom, David Busboom, Roger Schmidt, Tom and Sue Spanyers Shaw, Jeanne Boller, Superintendent Gaylen Johnson, Robert Havlat, Wayne and Donna Havlat Danekas, Robert Sandburn, Geraldine Parks Nelson, Anne Kovar Tridblom, Letha Sandburn Rardin, Principal Lowell and Teacher Rita Cooper.

Finally, we have received several requests from parents of current or future Dorchester students to publish the floor plans of the three proposals to renovate or replace the 1927 school building. So here is a recap of the architectural plans for the Dorchester School as presented by Archi+Etc. of Lincoln during the informational meeting held earlier this month:

Option 1(a): $1.8 million. This plan – the least expensive – would make minimum modifications to the 1927 building to bring it up to code. This would include the addition of an elementary attendance center and separate administration office space. Portable classrooms would be removed and new parking area away from playgrounds would be added.

_______________________________________________________________________

Option 1(b): $2.6 million. The plan calls the full renovation of the 1927 building, including an “elevator for vertical accessibility.” A small wing for administration staff would be added to allow for supervision. Similar to the first option, a new parking area would be added and the portable classrooms would be removed.

__________________________________________________________________________

Option 2: $3.98 million. The plan would completely revamp the school campus, with a new building to replace the 1927 structure and portable classrooms. New additions would surround the 1963 gymnasium. The additions would provide space for an elementary attendance center, an administrative wing for supervision, and modern rooms for high school classes.

11 comments:

  1. Gee....let me use my pulik skool educasion to figure this one out. Spend $2.6M to polish a turd ..... or an extra $1.3M (to be paid off over 20 years or more) to get ourselves a first class institution that will be around 50 years after I'm gone?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow your smart!! I totally agree.

    ReplyDelete
  3. in all this information on the school, i see nothing on the new gym and wrestling room.
    Does a school on our size need a new gym and a wrestling room that will cost over 300,000 dollars?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Have there been any estimates on the cost of furnishing the new building if that is the route it goes.

    will this money be part of the bond issue or will this be extra money that will need to be raised?

    ReplyDelete
  5. At the public meeting, they said that the old furnishings would be used, but they are replacing some items already within their regular budget. I do think that fixed things such as cabinets etc. are included in the cost.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i have an idea. We have some people that like the old, the tradition of DHS, why cant we do some new and interesting things with the old building, and spend the extra two million on curriculum and technology

    ReplyDelete
  7. A poet once said that the art of living well is contingent on fine line of knowing when to hold on and when to let go. Looking at the old school building.....with its air conditioners hanging out the windows....it may be time to let go.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tacky, tacky, tacky using old furniture in a new building

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am not sure the stewards of the taxpayer dollar are worried about being tacky!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Build it..........and they will come!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Most of the average people in town, probably still have a house payment, how can you expect on new school on top of everything else. The elderly live on fixed income. How can we expect that kind of taxes for them. Dont get me wrong, a new school is great, but at what expense, for the average person. My wages havent increased enough to cover that.

    ReplyDelete

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.