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Fieldcrest Board Votes to Build New School Building

Wednesday, February 28, 2018 - Posted 8:57:11 PM
The Fieldcrest Board of Education voted to pursue a referendum to build a new school building at the board meeting Wednesday night.  Board member Tim McNamara made the motion and was seconded by Board president Joe Kirkpatrick.  Board members Elizabeth Palm, Kimberly McKay and Scott Hillenburg voted in favor of the motion while Mykin Bernardi and Charles Lohr voted no.

In making the motion, Mr. Mamara said money is going to be spent one way or the other.  He said the school has too many buildings and a new building will be more efficient to operate and maintain.  Earlier he expressed his opinion that a 6-12 building should be constructed.

Ms. Palm said her decision to support a new building is not a personal agenda but is based on doing what is fiscally responsible for the taxpayer.

Earlier Mr. Lohr made a motion to pursue the repair of the school buildings and was seconded by Ms. Bernardi.  That motion failed to pass as Mr. Lohr and Ms. Bernardi were the only ones who voted yes.

Mr. Lohr said he received cost estimates from an engineer who said it would cost $375 per square foot to build a new building and thought the cost would be too high and would not be supported by the taxpayers.  Ms. Bernardi said we owe it to the taxpayer to repair the buildings rather than build.

Mr. Kirkpatrick said the board will make a decision in the near future on how much the building will cost and where it will be built as that will be part of the referendum.  He said it is possible the board may reject pursing a new building if the cost estimates come in too high.  He said the cost will be affected on how much community involvement takes place.

Prior to the vote, Minonk resident Christie Ruestman in the public comments section said that Fieldcrest is a good school district with good teachers.  She said money should be spent on teachers, not buildings.  She urged the board to vote for what the people want and not for their personal agenda.  She said the community favors repairing rather than building new.

At the beginning of the meeting, a presentation was given by students from the primary school in Minonk in which the students were dressed as zoo animals.  That was followed by testimony from 3 intermediate school teachers from Toluca who expressed the positive aspects of going to attendance centers.  

In other action, the board recognized Julie May for her service as she is retiring as the payroll and HR bookkeeper and the board accepted a bid of $7500 for mowing services for the upcoming mowing season.

Comments

Nicole Embery: So they spent all this time and money....to ignore what people wanted?
Jenny Railey Hernandez: It'll get a no vote from this voter.
Nicole Embery: I dont get it. Its been sounding pretty clear to me people want the buildings fixed, its cheaper, and older stuff is built to last (just look what happened to vcrs! Lol)
Jessica Michaels Overocker: Just because the no people are louder, doesn't mean there aren't those that support the idea of a single building.
Sara Herman: A single building will cripple the district. No-one has money for that. Fix what is wrong with the buildings you added to over the past 20 years. So many people SAY NO. If you keep pushing this how many more parents do you think will leave the district.?
Josh Jones: From my understanding from being at the meeting last night. By the time this gets to the ballot box there will be location and prices set. If the cost comes back to high then they will possibly have to look into doing something different. Whether that means going back to repair I don't no. I just hope that they look into other engineering firms besides farnsworth. There over inflated cost on repairs showed what type of business they run. It would of been nice in the past if the maintenance would of been done on these buildings so it didn't put us in this situation and if it wasn't getting done hold the person responsible for it not being done.
Pam Jolly: I'm voting No! It seems pretty foolish to me to actually take a vote on building a new building without having an estimated cost or an idea as to where it will be built. That would be like me saying, "there's a lot of work I need to do on my home but I'm just going to build a new place, not knowing what it will cost or where it will be located, but I'll figure it out later....really people!!! Thank goodness we have 2 board members who aren't living in a fantasy land. We'd better make sure people get out and vote NO on this!
Kim Tarmann: Again, there should be a cap on how many years one can serve on the board. There's only one way that voters voices will be heard loud and clear and that's at the ballot box. NO! NO! NO!
Larry Stotts: A big NO vote from this voter, when we have good building in our system that aren't being utilized, and a school board who has allowed our building to deteriorate, NO Manage
Jessica Michaels Overocker: It's about time we considered what should have been done when fieldcrest was first created. I am looking forward to having this as an option. Manage
Renee Kennedy: From my understanding we can barely keep our schools afloat, how in the world are we rebuilding??? Manage
Jan Sweet Hovey: I vote NO!
Jessie Rae Meils: All I say is this: If there ever is a single building built, it better be built somewhere "neutral". Lord knows every town will tear each other apart if it isn't.
Taylor Jo Retoff: Why can't we go back to having all grades in every town? And just fix the buildings we currently have. Id like to not have my kids ride a bus.
Mindy Johnson: At the meeting last night the 2nd and 3rd grade teachers gave a presentation on how well the attendance centers are working. The things these teachers are doing together are amazing for the students!
Leanna Link: Thank you!!!! I've always thought it's crazy to bus the kids all over. Even small children!! It's a big mess!! Where are they getting the money for all this. They can't even afford classes our kids really need!!
Jeff Peterson: They couldn't even, or wouldn't, say for sure if the resolution to build a new school could even be interpreted to mean something other than that. It was asked if they voted and it passed could they go another avenue if the cost was too high. Kirkpatrick couldn't even answer the question cause he wasn't sure.....yet 5 out of the 7 still voted yes... I'd say it's a done deal if the referendum passes or not....it'll still get shoved through.