A Work in Progress

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, August 21 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

When school begins on August 26, our North Tama secondary students and staff will be dealing with a bit of a mess....or as I like to call it, a “work in progress.”  During the first few weeks of school, we will be temporarily inconvenienced by an incomplete remodeling and expansion project at the secondary office.  Work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the second week of September.  In the meantime, our principal and secondary secretaries will be working out of temporary locations.  

The office remodeling project was much needed. The previous secondary office was quite small, and lacked a conference room space for teacher collaboration, committee meetings, and individual parent conferences.  Lack of visibility in the previous office was a concern. The paneled walls of the old office left much to be desired, both in terms of aesthetics as well as lack of soundproofing for privacy.  

The main reception area of the office in the early stages of the project.

The new secondary office will be located in the same space as the previous office, but will also expand into the adjacent science room that had been used in recent years as a study hall. This study hall room will still be a usable classroom space for us in the fall but will be about half the previous size. The classroom will have a new floor, ceiling, fresh paint, and energy-efficient lights. The office will include an expanded work space for our high school secretary and activities secretary, along with a conference room for meetings, a student room, and a larger principal’s office with additional space for meetings. It will feature soundproof walls, a window between the office and the hallway for improved visibility, new cabinets and countertops, along with new floors, ceilings, and energy-efficient lights.

The main reception area after drywall, texturing, and painting.

The project was designed by StruXture architects, with Failor-Hurley Construction of Hudson submitting the low bid for general contractor services. Due to long lead times on many of the materials that needed to be ordered for the project, the remodeling won’t be finished in time for the start of school so we will all have a period of inconvenience. I have been involved with several major facility projects during my years in school administration, and I don’t think a single one of them has been done by the projected completion date. While this can be frustrating, in retrospect we’ve been very pleased with the results of these projects and in the end, we are happy to have what we have...looking back, we barely remember that the projects took longer than expected.  While we will all be inconvenienced for a while, the end result will be a much more functional office setting for our secondary staff.

Some may wonder how the school can afford a project like this during a period of declining enrollment and reduced revenues. You may be aware that the school has reduced several positions, including the superintendency...so how can North Tama afford this? Facilities projects like this are generally paid for with funds that can’t legally be spent on teacher salaries, books, or other operating expenses. At North Tama, we are using combination of dollars from the Physical Plant & Equipment Levy (PPEL) and the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds. PPEL funds come from a 33-cent property tax levy, and SAVE funds come from the extra penny of sales tax that Iowans pay when making purchases. No money is being borrowed and tax rates will not be affected. Projects like this are one of the few limited ways that schools can legally use these funds. In a future column, I will share more information on categorical funding and all of the restrictions related to school funding.

The diagram above shows the basic plan for the office remodeling project.  The office is in the same location, but has expanded into the study hall room next door.  PPEL & SAVE funds are being used to make this much-needed project a reality.  

I hope you have enjoyed the columns that I have submitted to the Star Clipper during my first two months as your superintendent. I believe that open and clear communication is more important than ever before, especially since I am part-time in this position and have duties in another district. I plan to continue these columns once or twice each month as part of my plan for open communication. I invite your thoughts and your feedback. You are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where you can read all of my Star Clipper columns and leave comments if you wish. I also occasionally post pictures and other content that is not submitted to the paper or additional information that expands upon what was submitted to the paper. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter (@DavidRobertHill) where I will occasionally post photos of the remodeling project or other activities taking place at school. We’re looking forward to a great school year at North Tama!

More photos will be posted as the work continues!