At next week’s regular meeting, the Newton Community School District Board will consider accepting a bid for the construction of a new softball field.
The bid of $660,000 comes from Koester Construction. FRK Architects and Engineers, which designed the new Berg Middle School, also designed the new softball field.
The field is set to be built on land already owned by the district near the intersection of West Sixth Street South and South 15th Avenue West. It will include dugouts, a batting cage, fencing and storage.
In May, FRK estimated the cost of the project would be about $831,000. Construction is slated to begin in early July, and it should be completed by November if it goes according to schedule.
A public hearing will be held at 6:45 p.m. before the school board votes on the softball field construction project. It will follow a 6:40 p.m. public hearing at the EJH Beard Administration Center on the purchase of technology items.
The board will also consider purchasing technology equipment for the district. The technology purchase includes replacement of 1:1 devices, which are electronic devices issued to students.
Each student at Newton High School receives an iPad for school work. In March, Technology Supervisor Dan Sloan told the school board the current tablets are four years old and starting to fail.
In other business, the board will vote on an inter-fund loan of up to $1.5 million from the SAVE fund to cover bills and payroll during the months of July and August, when the district is not receiving Department of Education funds.
Also on Monday, NCSD will vote on an inter-district agreement for WEST Academy and Learning Opportunities Center in Baxter and consider the 2017-2018 Berg Middle School student handbook.
A first reading of a district policy dealing with past-due food service accounts is also on the agenda. The school board has been discussing this topic for several weeks.
During the communications segment of the meeting, the board will recognize NHS girls’ soccer for qualifying for state competition and recognize a donation from local churches.
Contact Justin Jagler at 641-792-3121 ext 6532 or jjagler@newtondailynews.com