Good day, Kimball. Both school buildings are going through the process of cleaning and getting ready for the students to come back in the fall. The students had a fantastic send off on the last day of school as the elementary building students received awards that they earned throughout the year, and the high school had a shortened schedule for all students to say goodbye and sign pictures in their year books.
This past school year was a tremendous success for the students academically as well as success in the extracurricular areas. Our preliminary data in the academic testing indicated our students are continuing to excel beyond the state average. They are also scoring towards the top in comparison to surrounding districts. Great job to the students and staff for working so hard to make the grade.
This year has been one of the most successful for our activities as we had students from 11 different activities and clubs earn trips to state, national, and world competition. That is a tremendous accomplishment of our students here in Kimball. They have worked hard and deserve to get the chance to compete against the best from across the state, country and world. I am extremely proud of our students, staff members, and parents who make this all possible. Great job, everyone.
One big project the school board and I are working on this summer is trying to expand our industrial technology area by getting our wood shop room in a separate area and independent of the metals and small engines room. I was approached by a local business that would be willing to donate one of their new structures. The structure would be connected to the Wirth gym on the west side. The cost to the district would be to pay for the cement work, electrical hook-up, HVAC system, and installation of new fire doors. The total cost would be no more than $125,000 for this structure to be installed. This would be significantly less than the building bond structure that was proposed in the last bond which would have cost anywhere from $2 to $3 million to build. This is a significant savings and a much better use of money. The biggest advantage to this is that it would allow the wood shop room to come back, the wrestling room would be larger, and give the high school some flexible space when not being used for wrestling.
The facilities committee met on June 6, to discuss options for raising funds to cover the cost for this proposed structure. The two options discussed were to do a capital fundraising campaign, or for the school board to do a lease levy. I have posted a couple of documents on the school district website under the school board tab explaining what a lease levy is for anyone not familiar with the term and how it works. The school board members will discuss this at length to determine what the best route will be for the district. As I get updates, I will include them in future articles.
That is all I have for now. I hope everyone gets a chance to relax with the nice weather and enjoy time with your children. You and your children have certainly earned it. Have a great weekend, take care, and GO CUBS!