Mitchell Board of Education to consider moving high school bidding process forward

Dec. 11—MITCHELL — The Mitchell Board of Education will consider sending the designs for the proposed new high school building out to bid when it meets next, setting in motion the latest stage of efforts to bring a new facility to the Mitchell School District campus.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, in the library at Mitchell High School.

"We have now largely completed the design phase of the Mitchell High School building," Joe Graves, superintendent of the Mitchell School District, said in his agenda notes. "I recommend that these documents be released to bidders at this time."

If the board gives the go-ahead to start the bid process, contractors interested in the project would have until Jan. 19 to submit their bids. Bids will be opened that same day. After that, Graves said the construction manager on the project would go over the bids to ensure they meet specifications and other criteria.

"(The bids) come in on Jan. 19, but then the construction manager has to go through them and make sense of them and make sure they all bid correctly, they bid the right things, they have the bonds, those kinds of things," Graves said. "Once that's all done, then we call the board back in. So it depends on how long that takes, and it's a major project so it might take a bit."

Once the manager signs off on that portion, the board will review the bids at a later meeting and decide how to proceed, whether it be with the base bid or with an alternative that may exclude or delay construction of some portions of the project. Such items could include the competition gymnasium and other high-cost items.

Once the board can review the bids, they will be able to make a more informed decision on what parts of the project can proceed in the first phase of construction.

"The bid is on the base project and all the alternates, it's just we suspect we can't do all the alternates. But that way we can go through them and make decisions with real numbers," Graves said.

The district has been preparing to build a new high school building for years, citing the need for a new structure to replace the current building on North Capital Street, which was built in 1962. The board had set aside capital funds for years for the building, and when extra funds were made available on a limited-time basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials decided to move forward with the project ahead of schedule, but cost estimates came in high.

The board has since discussed the possible need to delay portions of the project, with some board members expressing a hesitancy to start the project unless certain parts of the project are guaranteed, such as the inclusion of a new competition gymnasium. There has also been debate if renovation of the current building is a viable route.

There has also been some pushback from the public at recent meetings, with some patrons expressing disappointment that a facility assessment of the current building was not done and some suggesting a construction project of this magnitude requires a public vote. School officials have stated a vote is not necessary in this case.

More details on the bidding process and possible alternate plans can be found in the Dec. 12 meeting agenda.

Personnel

The board is expected to consider the following personnel moves at the meeting:

* The new administrative hire of Theresa Kriese, business manager, $130,000, effective July 1.

* The new certified hires of Cassey VerHey, head 7th grade girls basketball coach, $2,122, and Christina Siemsen, sophomore girls basketball coach, $3,470. Both hires are effective for the 2022-23 school year.

* The new classified hire of Katelyn Albertz, paraeducator at L.B. Williams Elementary School, $15 per hour, effective Dec. 19.

* The retirement of Steve Culhane, business manager, effective June 30.

* The resignation of Laura Baus, paraeducator at Longfellow Elementary School, effective Nov. 18.

* The transfer of Charlene Hilkemeier, paraeducator at L.B. Williams Elementary School 7 hours to paraeducator at Longfellow Elementary School 8 hours, pending suitable replacement L.B. Williams Elementary School.

* The Mitchell Technical College resignation of Sarah Raml, adjunct registered nursing (RN) clinical instructor, effective Dec. 16

Other business

Also at the meeting, the board is expected to:

* Consider revisions to board policy 1141 — community use of facilities.

* Hear public commentary.

* Hear board member reports.

* Hear the superintendent report.

The meeting is open to the public. The Mitchell Republic will livestream the meeting on its website www.mitchellrepublic.com.