04 Broadcaster Press February 3, 2015 www.broadcasteronline.com School Board Calendar in Center of Disussion, Concerns By Sarah Wetzel For the Plain Talk The school board approved the 2015-16 school calendar to be the same as the current school year at their meeting on Monday despite multiple reservations held by various members of the board. The schools had been considering a later start date due to the HVAC project to take place this summer. Board member Shannon Fairholm spoke of a calendar meeting she attended to discuss the possible change. “Our objective going into this calendar session was to try to give Johnson Controls a little bit more wiggle room in the completion of their project before the teachers and the students came back into the high school,” she said. “It would make elementary and middle school parents happy because they would start a week later. It would push our end date down a week which we’ve all kind of wanted to do, knowing this would be a one-time thing in order to help this project.” According to Fairholm, the main problem with the later start date affects mostly the Senior class. “Len Griffith called to inform us that there are a lot of deadlines for scholarships that are due the time of Jan 15,” Fairholm said. “At the time we had penciled in, the students would come back from Christmas break, they would be back two weeks and miss that deadline. There would be no way for teachers to load things into the system by that time.” Fairholm explained how, in trying to keep the semesters and quarters equal in length, final exams for the first semester would have to be moved to after Christmas break with an extra week of instruction thrown in so students had some time to review after two weeks off. “It also plays a part in all the students we have that are taking dual credit as well as concurrent credits because of when the university’s starting and if they don’t have their final grades, they can’t move ahead in those courses,” she added. The scholarship deadlines are something that should not be missed according to Fairholm and played a major role in the decision made by the committee assembled at the special meeting. “Quite frankly it costs quite a lot of money to go to college these days and we’d be putting our students at a tremendous disadvantage,” she said. “Because of that we have put this year’s calendar into the formula we would have for next year. So the first day of school would be on Aug 19 with two days of teacher inservice with the hopes that one of those days would be a little more open for the teachers so they would have time and the ability to get the logistics done in their building and their classrooms. We heard they were a little short this year so we would hope they would have that time.” This decision did not come without reservations. “Everyone was disappointed,” Fairholm said. “I have to admit we were all pretty excited about the other calendar but we just really didn’t feel like it was in the best AUCTION Sunday, February 8, 2015 at 12:30 pm 1270 Utility Trailers Trailer SALE! 102”x25', 28' 30'& 32' Gooseneck 24,000# GVWR trailers, Starting at $8199.00 with FREE spare; 6'x12' V-nose ramp door $2,750.00; Aluminum utility 76”x10' $1,699.00; DUMP trailers 8', 10' 12' 14' & 16'; 130 trailers in-stock. 515-972-4554 www.FortDodgeTrailerWorld.c om (MCN) 1460 Contractors VERMILLION CONSTRUCTION CO. Poured Foundations, Flat Work; 40-Plus Years Experience; Commercial & Residential; Free Estimates. (605)658-2345. 1475 Other Services ALL THINGS BASEMENTY! Basement Systems Inc. Call us for all of your basement needs! Waterproofing, Finishing, Structural Repairs, Humidity and Mold Control. FREE ESTIMATES! Call 1-800-640-8195 (MCN) The school board voted Monday to approve the 2015-16 school year to be the same as the 2014-15 year despite desires to give Johnson Controls more time to finish the high school renovation project. SARAH WETZEL / FOR THE PLAIN TALK: interest of those seniors.” As far as the HVAC renovation project goes, Fairholm said there will be much need for helping hands from community volunteers near the end of the summer. “Basically we would have to put an all-points bulletin out to everybody in the community to try to put our high school back together in time to get school started,” she said. “It’s going to take all hands on deck. Johnson Control, I’m sorry we tried. We realize you’ll still be here. We’re just trying to get you out of the main areas where everybody’s going to be.” Fairholm expressed her excitement for the high school renovation but also her fears that the time crunch would be too stressful on the teachers. Nevertheless, she remained positive. “I bet we can get a lot of bodies here to get things put together in a timely fashion and relieve some of the stress off our teachers,” she said. Board member Doug Peterson did not share the view that the scholarship deadline has that large a significance in determining the school calendar. “I served on the university’s major National Guard Armory (603 Princeton) Vermillion, SD Guns, Rascal electric scooter, Hardware and Household and much more. For full listing go to Dakotarealty.com Madsen AuctionBye and Jim Brady Service Gary Madsen 605-638-0643 Hazen Arrrrre you advertising in the Broadcaster? scholarship committee for ten years and this was never an issue,” he said. “The application is completely independent from the transcription and it’s routine that senior year transcripts don’t factor into the decision. It’s whatever grades you have and the ACT and the application procedure.” According to Peterson, the scholarship committee is regularly asked to check updated transcripts at the end of January and so the 15th deadline might not be as large a concern as it looks. “I’m speaking only from my experience at USD,” he said. “Regarding dual credit, the university starts a week behind us and add/drop doesn’t end until several days in. I teach online and just added dual credit students this week.” Though Peterson recognized the validity of the concerns, he said the summer project takes priority. “I wish we could give Johnson controls that extra week,” he said. “I’m worried what we do Aug 10 if we’re not done. That’s my main concern. I want this to be a successful project and not disrupt the first day of school.” Fairholm insisted that everything had been done to give Johnson Controls an extra week to no avail. “We actually looked at taking away from Thanksgiving and shortening Christmas Watch the “treasure” pile up when you advertise in the break,” she said. “It was a consensus of the group after listening to the arguments that we maintain our current schedule and pray that Johnson Controls completes the project by then.” “Everybody around that table was trying to do everything humanly possible but I would almost go and say approve this and see how the project goes and if it doesn’t go well, we’ll just adjust it at that time,” she said. Board member Chris Esping shared the regrets. “I was also disappointed that we couldn’t make a later start date work but I guess what we’re going to have to do is have some type of contingency in case there’s a problem and we can’t be in the school by the 19th,” she said. “We’re going to have to have some type of plan in place of what we’re going to do.” According to Johnson Controls representative Mike Hubbard, there should be plenty of time to come up with a backup should complications arise. “I have every faith we’ll get you back in on time but I can’t guarantee what things will look like,” he said. “You might have a ceiling and lights without tile in the grid.” Though several board members did not seem to think this an issue, Peterson did not agree. “That’s actually a n CONCERN, Page 06 If you or a loved one suffered a stroke, heart attack or died after using testosterone supplements, you may be entitled to monetary damages. 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