Charles City School Board sets public hearing for high school HVAC plan

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Community Board of Education heard from a full house as the board considered its next step regarding improvements to the high school building, during its regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 10.

On the agenda was revisiting a resolution to set a public hearing date regarding a plan to spend $4-5 million dollars to address the high school’s immediate heating, cooling and electrical needs.

Based on an assessment from Modus Engineering, the proposal was developed following a failed attempt by the district to pass a $27 million bond referendum that would have completely renovated the high school.

Since then, the board has been working on a much smaller scale proposal that focuses on the high school’s most pressing issues with projects that could be funded without requiring a referendum.

A public hearing was originally planned to be scheduled during the board’s January meeting, but the matter was tabled to allow time for more information and public feedback to be gathered.

The public offered that feedback Monday night as a lineup of speakers, mostly current and former educators, encouraged the board to refocus on a large-scale project.

“I really want to encourage you guys to shoot for the moon,” said Robert Pittman.

Pittman, a teacher in the district, said Charles City is in competition with other schools in the area and the future of the district will depend on its ability to offer up-to-date facilities.

“We have to sell ourselves more,” said Pittman. “We have to sell ourselves to our students, and our families, and our communities for the future.”

The sentiment was shared by fellow teacher Angie Holzier, who lamented that her daughter is set to graduate from a high school building that has been unchanged since her father and grandfather graduated.

“Putting small fixes on the building is not going to cause them to stay here,” said Holzer.

“I understand the need for immediate improvements, but spending $4 million now only to find ourselves in a similar situation in five to six years is not an effective use of district resources,” said industrial tech teacher Jesse White.

White also expressed his concern for the industrial tech and ag wing of the high school, which is not directly mentioned in the Modus plan as receiving new heating and cooling.

“They will be the only students in the school district without heat and air,” said retired ag teacher Jim Lundberg.

Board President Bruce Koebrick later confirmed that an oversight in the Modus Assessment neglected mention of the industrial tech and ag wing in the proposal that was released to the school staff and public. He said he has contacted Modus and been assured that heating and cooling for that portion of the building is part of the plan.

Offering her historical insight, former board member Lorraine Winterink, who oversaw the construction of the new middle school building, explained that plans to renovate the high school were developed even back then, and it was not their intent at the time to wait for the middle school bond to be paid off before moving forward.

“We never intended to leave the high school as it is today,” she said.

Winterink asked the current board to review plans for the high school that were made at the time to see if they are still viable.

Mayor Dean Andrews urged the board to utilize more of the district’s debt capacity to facilitate a more ambitious project.

“We want to be a community that stands out in our state,” said Andrews. “Borrow at the level responsible, but also borrow at the level of what is needed.”

This feeling was echoed by Bryan Bjorhlund, who questioned waiting until 2032 to move forward with a larger project.

“The four million, I think is just not enough,” said Bjorhlund.

“I agree that four million is better than doing nothing, said Jim Davis. “Is better than doing nothing the standard we want to teach our children?”

“Spend every dollar you possibly can,” said Chuck Staudt, pointing out that the cost of the work needed will only increase as construction prices continue to rise.

Tyler Downing suggested that the district should make another effort to pass a bond measure for a comprehensive project, pointing out that similar projects in other districts have succeeded after multiple attempts.

“I think we’re just delaying the inevitable,” said Downing.

As an aside, Downing also spoke against the recent policy of regularly letting school out early on Wednesdays for professional development.

“The 36 instructional hours that we lose I think is important for our kids,” said Downing.

Following the public comment portion of the meeting, Koebrick offered his own thoughts based on his dealings with engineers and the facility staff.

“It was our conclusion that this proposal would give us the biggest bang for our buck in the fasted turnaround time,” said Koebrick. “This would allow us to take care of our biggest issues right here, right now.”

Koebrick expressed his reservations about delaying improvements to the high school further, particularly for the sake of a proposal that may or may not once again be stalled by a failed bond vote.

“I’m really tired of ‘wait and see,’” he said. “If we wait for a bond and throw this out the window, we are back to a ‘wait and see’ plan.”

Koebrick emphasized that moving forward with the Modus plan and working toward a comprehensive remodel are not mutually exclusive, and that the work done to the building now would not be affected by a larger remodel or vise versa.

“We can do this right now and not hinder future bonds,” said Koebrick. “I want more, but I want to make sure in the meantime, while we build a perfect plan … my staff and students are taken care of.”

Per the agenda, a motion was made to un-table the resolution of setting a public hearing for the bond. In a roll call vote, the motion passed with board members Koebrick, Dara Jaeger, and Dr. David Schrodt voting in favor and Josh Mack and Kathryn Fox voting against.

In discussion, Mack asked what the district’s plan would be for the building following the $4 million project, with Koebrick reiterating that he was open to establishing a committee to work on a new proposal for a more comprehensive remodel.

Fox advocated for more time to determine if a larger project could be viable now, recommending the board continue to pause on the plan.

“We have talked about this for 20 years,” said Fox. “It’s not going to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things.”

“I don’t see it as an all or nothing thing,” said Jaeger. “I don’t see us doing this as all we’re doing.”

“The two sides are not mutually exclusive,” said Schrodt.

Ultimately, a motion was made to schedule the public hearing, which will give the community another opportunity to weigh in with their thoughts. From there, after 15 days have passed, the board will be able to approve or deny the plan.

The resolution to schedule the public hearing again passed in a 3-2 roll call vote, with Koebrick, Schrodt, and Jaeger voting in favor and Mack and Fox voting against.

The public hearing was scheduled for the next regular meeting, which was set for Monday, March 24.