NCSD board hears more about Berg bell problems

On the eve of one of the largest bond elections in the history of the Newton Community School District, the NCSD Board of Education heard about some issues Monday night related to the building it’s hoping to rebuild.

At Monday’s regular meeting, the board heard about two topics of concern at Berg Middle School — problems with the bell system and mold.

Fortunately, the news about the dreaded four-letter word — mold — was relatively good news. A report from Midwest Air Quality, LLC, revealed the Berg complex doesn’t seem to have the same level of issues it’s had in some of the past few summers and in early fall.

“The best news is there was no black mold detected,” said Superintendent Bob Callaghan. “There was discovered a small level of current or former presence of mold, consistent with what was found in the air outside the building. It was not a high enough level to necessarily call for professional mediation. We are taking steps to get air purifiers and dehumidifiers where they can do the most good.”

The same cannot be said, however, for the bells on the fifth- and sixth-grade side of the middle school, which have yet to function properly for those grades since Berg began to house those grades this fall. The lone Iowa firm that can service an older bell system such as Berg’s, CEC, considers the repairs at Berg to be such a large project that two days will be necessary for it, and submitted a bid to Sloan for $2,400 to complete the work.

Technology Supervisor Dan Sloan, in his supervisors’ report, discussed not only why the 5-6 side cannot be programmed separately from the 7-8 side, which functions properly, but also why the fifth- and sixth-grade areas of the school also cannot be programmed individually.

The bell problem at Berg was described in a Sept. 2 story in the Newton Daily News.

The board took no action on the bid. One item discussed was how much work the district should do on Berg infrastructure until Tuesday’s bond election was held.

Tuesday, voters decide if a $26.9 million bond should pass, with all voting taking place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Jasper County Community Center. The bond requires 60 percent approval to pass.

Board Members Josh Cantu and Andy Elbert and Vice President Travis Padget presented a bond committee update.

“I like the passion I’ve seen for the students as the bond discussions have gone on this year,” Padget said. “I really hope that continues.”

Board President Sheri Benson was out of town and was not at Monday’s meeting. The board’s next regular meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 at the EJH Beard Administration Building.

In other action Monday, the board:

• Approved a motion to hold a work session prior to the Sept. 26 meeting to develop a Denison Culture committee. Scheduling 2016-17 meeting dates is also on Monday’s agenda.

• Discussed an artist’s rendering of possible signage in front of or on the EJH Beard Administration Building. Specific costs were not mentioned and no action was taken. The board agreed with Callaghan’s suggestion signage needs at each campus be evaluated after the bond election.

• Heard an open enrollment report from Callaghan that included a recap of successful efforts to balance kindergarten enrollment at the four K-4 elementary schools. Five families agreed to have their children attend Aurora Heights instead of Emerson Hough, which had an unexpectedly high number of kindergartners this year. Those five families will keep their five children — and nine total students — at Aurora Heights for the duration of those students’ K-4 years.

• Heard supervisors’ reports from Curt Roorda in transportation, who had positive news about changes to bus routes to accommodate day care issues, from Cristy Croson in food service, who had positive news about grant programs and account balances, and from Jack Suttek in maintenance, who said carpeting and heating and air conditioning improvements are nearly complete at Emerson Hough.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com