The Fieldcrest Board of Education approved a bid of $91,200 for the purchase of doors and windows for the Primary and Secondary school buildings in Minonk and Toluca to comply with the 10 year HLS requirements. The bid did not include how many doors and windows are included which made it difficult to determine the unit cost. The bid was narrowly approved with Mykin Bernardi, Elizabeth Palm and Charles Lohr voting no.
The board also approved an E-Rate project to update the school's technological infrastructure. The project cost is $149,868.30 of which $86.312.16 would be reimbursed by the government through an E-Rate program for which the school is eligible and would have to apply for. The project includes running cable in all 4 buildings from the demarc to each classroom's new access point,103 new 802.11ac access points to provide better wireless coverage to all 4 buildings, including not only classrooms but auditoriums and other public areas,18 new switches to better manage the amount of data in the internal networks and 5 years of licensing and support on all new devices.
Director of Technology, Matt Wendland, said the school has great internet bandwidth entering the buildings but inadequate hardware to accommodate the school's internet capabilities. He said the school services over 800 notebooks and other devices and the new technology will greatly improve the school's internet speed and also enable improved security and surveillance devices.
In other business the board approved the hiring of Michael Quinn as HS Counselor and Jordan Riddle for MS Music. Also, the board approved the hiring of summer workers that include paint crew leader - Drew Barth, paint crew member - Kaitlyn Swartz, adult summer worker - Kathy Jackson and student summer workers - Kyle Colglazier, Evan Seggerman, Ryan Naas, and Ryan Buis.
Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Dan Oakley said President's Day and Casimir Pulaski Day are currently school holidays but could potentially become emergency days if emergency days are needed. Dr, Oakley said there is no new information on the Wenona Middle School Engineering Field Study.
Middle School Principal Nate Lorton said all 230 students are currently roomed in the west wing of the building as work is being done on the older building. He said the new lockers are working out great.
At the end of the meeting outgoing board members Tim McNamara and Joe Kirkpatrick voiced their support for the school's engineering firm, The Farnsworth Group, citing their experience and expert guidance and tough decisions they made for the school.
At the beginning of the meeting, the board publicly recognized the 7th Girls Volleyball team which placed 2nd in the State Tournament this year. Their story can be viewed at this
link.