From a news release
STE GENEVIEVE — The Ste. Genevieve County School District R-II has released its unofficial Board Briefs summarizing the business of the Tuesday, July 18, 2023 regular meeting.
This is an unofficial record.
The official Board Minutes are posted on the district website and are located on BoardDocs.
The video of the meeting can be found on the district’s Youtube Channel, SGDragonsTV at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNODUZNLWsk
MSBA MONTHLY REPORT
The MSBA July Board Report takes a look back at MSBA’s Summer Summit, which featured remarks from Dr. Jacqueline Sanderlin and the swearing-in of Ruth Johnson as MSBA President. The MSBA Board Report is a monthly five to seven-minute video program featuring the latest news from MSBA about public education in Missouri. The program is designed to be shown during local school board meetings.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Board members and administrators listen to concerns and respond when appropriate by mail or telephone at a later date.
The Board does not respond within the meeting to those who come to offer public comment. In order to speak during public participation, a Public Comment Form must be filled out and submitted to the Board President prior to the beginning of the meeting.
See Policy BDDH-1: Public Participation at Board Meetings for guidelines and procedures.
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
2023 School Tax Rate Hearing.
The 2023 School Tax Rate Hearing will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. prior to the Regular Board of Education meeting. This is a change (the Board meeting in August is moved back a week to provide the district enough time to gather information from the Assessor’s Office.)
2023-24 School Year Date Reminders.
● First Day of School: Monday, Aug. 21
● Open House Events:
○ BLE & SGE Pre-K and K: Wednesday, Aug. 16
○ BLE & SGE 1st – 5th Grades: Thursday, Aug. 17
○ SGMS: Thursday, Aug. 24
○ SGHS: Wednesday, Aug. 30
Superintendent Dr. Paul Taylor made a point to thank the custodians, maintenance staff and summer crew for their hard work deep-cleaning, clearing, updating, maintaining and preparing our buildings for the return of students and staff in the fall.
Along with the typical summer workload, these employees have also undertaken a renovation of the boys’ locker room, as the district identified some priorities that could be completed in-house outside of the scope of Prop SG.
Crews have power washed the walls and ceilings, given the locker room a fresh coat of paint, replaced the lights with LED lights, swapped out old lockers for new, updated the plumbing for the showers, and more.
We will share an update, along with photos, as soon as this work is completed.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Annual Communications Report.
Communications Director Bailey Otto presented the Communications Department’s annual report, which included an overview of the department’s duties, a review of the 2022-2023 department accomplishments, and a preview of the 2023-2024 department initiatives. The presentation can be seen here.
Prop SG Updates.
Bloomsdale Elementary: Dr. Taylor presented an update on Prop SG. Construction at Bloomsdale Elementary is moving along; the awning has been installed above the green tiles on the exterior entrance, and the clouds have been installed from the ceiling in the interior. The district is scheduled to undergo a walk-through to create a Punch List on Monday, July 24, with a tentative move-in date for office staff on Monday, July 31.
Ste. Genevieve Middle School: As construction at Bloomsdale Elementary winds down, the district is now focusing on the SGMS elevator and Early Childhood projects. The SGMS elevator project has been bid, and the Bid Opening was held on Monday, July 11. Dr. Taylor expressed that the district was pleased with the bids. Originally, the SGMS project was estimated to cost about $1.5 million. As costs have increased since that time, a higher estimate was expected, and the total bids came in just over $1.6 million. Dr. Taylor shared that we hope to hold a groundbreaking for this project in late August or early September.
Early Childhood Center: The district met with KRJ Architects, Brockmiller Construction and Taylor Engineering on Thursday, July 13, for a planning meeting to discuss site concerns. For background, the district purchased a total of approximately 11 acres for the Early Childhood Center. Dr. Taylor explained that the architects and engineers originally placed the building on this site high, close to Maple Drive, but that discussions regarding utilizing more of the 11 acres turned the conversation toward flipping the floor plan and moving the building toward the substation. However, the terrain in this area becomes steeper, and would necessitate significant retaining walls, as well as a large amount of site work. During this meeting, several options were discussed, but essentially, the placement of the building will be a balance of utilizing the property while also striving to take the dirt from the steeper, higher areas and moving it to fill the lower portions. At this time, Taylor Engineering is working on looking at two different options, exploring how much dirt will need to be moved, and where it makes the most sense to place the building, both in terms of the size and layout of the property, as well as the topography. Barring minor adjustments related to the placement of the building, the floor plan for the Early Childhood Center is finalized.
Ste. Genevieve Elementary: Dr. Taylor pointed out that the Ste. Genevieve Elementary project will have a significant impact on the facade of the front of the school, and that planning for this project must also take into consideration the processes and layout of the parking lot. At the meeting on July 13, the district, as well as the architects, engineers and CMAR representatives, clarified exactly where the addition would land and how much it could impact parking, student drop-off and pick-up. Taylor Engineering is working on options to restructure the parking lot with the bus lane and parking space alignment and layout. This includes a discussion to expand the parking lot toward the road and straightening parking spots. We will have more information on these plans moving forward.
NEW BUSINESS
Parking Lot Updates.
The Board of Education approved a bid from Zell Pro for parking lot crack repairs. Dr. Taylor pointed out that there are a few cracking issues in a few of the district’s parking lots, and that Zell Pro provided the lowest bid at $44,985 for a total of four lots (Yanks, Rear SGHS/PAC/Football lot, front SGE/SGHS lot, and the Read/Upper SGMS lot).
Dr. Taylor pointed out that the plan to fix cracks led to a conversation about how some of these lots will need an asphalt repair and overlay soon, and that it might not make sense to spend funds on filling cracks when these lots will need to be completely redone in the near future. In addition, the district would not begin work on overlays for parking lots until construction in those areas has completed. So, the district did receive bids and requested that the Board approve a bid for crack repairs, but not all of these parking lots will have this work done pre-construction.
At the same time, the district has been in discussion with engineers and contractors to identify areas where we could add parking on the Ste. Genevieve campus, especially as construction will begin soon for the SGMS project. In an effort to relieve some pressure off of the SGMS parking lot, the district is planning to reconfigure parking at the District Office. Plans include moving the white fence toward District Office which would allow the parking area to be reconfigured and double the number of current parking spots. This plan will also allow the recovery of some green space. On the opposite side of the building, the plan is to identify additional space for parking in order to allow all District Office staff to park in this location. This would provide the middle school with some overflow parking in the District Office lot during the construction phase. Dr. Taylor shared that the district is currently seeking bids for both parking projects and hopes to begin these identified parking updates soon.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
The Board of Education will hold its Tax Rate Hearing and its Regularly Scheduled Meeting on Aug. 29, 2023, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the SGHS Projection Room.