The meeting started off with public comments from several people. The first speaker said the school needs an independent survey from the community because questions aren't being answered which leads to community discord. He said the board has yet to come up with the impact the building plan with have on the taxpayer and said the board should slow down and not be too impatient to make a decision.
Another speaker said cost over runs are common on repair projects but stated that the asbestos issue is overblown since most repairs can be done without getting into asbestos. He said the only walls that need to be torn down are the walls between the communities.
Board member Charles Lohr pushed the need for a second opinion on repair costs stating that just doing a cost estimate on one building would give a good comparison. He added that repairs can be done a little bit at a time and was not sure that the board has to make a decision right now. He mentioned that if the referendum fails for a new building, it opens up the possibility of a backdoor referendum in which 4 people can make the decision on the building project. He didn't think 4 people should have that kind of power.
Board president Joe Kirkpatrick then offered to do a straw vote to get each board member's opinion after one of the public speakers stated he felt the board was not giving the public any sense of direction.
Board member Lohr said he prefers to repair all the buildings in the school district.
Board member Elizabeth Palm said she hasn't changed her opinion stating that the buildings in Wenona should be replaced with a hybrid building while keeping the primary and secondary schools in Toluca and Minonk. She felt that renovation projects tend to have cost over runs and feels that building new is cheaper. She said she doesn't want to have students go to a 90 year old school thirty years from now.
Board members Kimberly McKay, Tim McNamara and Mykin Bernardi all agreed to keep the primary and secondary schools in Toluca and Wenona and to build a new 6-12 building somewhere.
Board member Scott Hillenburg also agreed to keep the primary and secondary schools in Toluca and Minonk and said a new 6-12 building should be built at the north edge of Minonk and when the building is finished move everyone from the current high school to the new building. He said he would support keeping a building in Wenona if it can be repaired or built for less than $5 million but over that would be too expensive. He also suggested that the Fieldcrest maintenance staff look into the feasibility of doing the repair work at Fieldcrest South in Minonk in order to reduce the cost.
The question then evolved around whether or not to get a second opinion on cost. Only board members McKay, Bernardi and Lohr wanted a second opinion. However, a compromise was reached with the other board members by agreeing to have a second opinion done by a peer review walk through if the cost can be under $25,000.
Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Dan Oakley said the board will vote on getting a second opinion and discuss the possibility of having the Fieldcrest maintenance staff do repairs at Fieldcrest South at the next board meeting on December 20. Dr. Oakley said that speaking for himself he didn't think the board will make a final decision on the building issue until mid January.