NCSD board to consider audio upgrades at high school

The Newton Community School Board will start the final phase of its bond issuance program this month, with the board scheduled to approve an agreement to retain attorneys to prepare documents relating the bond issuance.

The final phase of the bonds used to pay for the construction of the new Berg Middle School, with the total amount of the bonds at $7,690,000. NCSD Superintendent Bob Callaghan said the district decided to split the bond into three parts because it offered several advantages over a single bond issue.

“We broke it up into three part chunks so they’d all be bank qualified, and we’d have a lower interest rate,” Callaghan said.

Des Moines law firm Ahlers and Cooney will handle the legal work for the bond issue, and Callaghan said the work is expected to cost $12,500. Voters approved the $26.9 million bond in 2016 to fund the construction of the new middle school, and this bond issuance represents the last phase of the project. The first of three bond authorizations was approved by the school board in the fall of 2016 for $9.59 million with a second installment of $9.62 million in the spring of 2017. The bonds were sold publicly, and Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. was the winning bidder for both of the previous bonds. The district worked with Jen Smith and Susanne Gerlach of Public Financial Management to secure the bonds.

The board is also expected to approve a bid to revamp the high school’s aging sound system. A public hearing is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Monday night to discuss the proposed bid, which would also include a sound system for the district’s new softball field. The audio equipment in the high school’s gymnasium and auditorium has never been updated, and Callaghan said the equipment is more than 30 years old and outdated.

“Audio equipment has changed dramatically in the last 30 years,” Callaghan said.

The district only received one bid on the project, for roughly $188,000, Callaghan said. The high school’s gymnasium was built in 1977, and the auditorium was constructed in 1983, and both are in need of updates. The proposed audio upgrades have long been a part of the district’s 10-year plan, and Callaghan said a recent survey that showed the roof at the high school to be in better than expected shape means the district can consider moving up the plans a year, replacing the audio equipment in fiscal year 2018 instead of waiting until fiscal year 2019. The 10-year plan is intended to remain flexible, Callaghan said, to give the district the ability to move funds around as needed. When an air conditioning unit at Thomas Jefferson Elementary failed in 2017 the district considered pushing back the plans to upgrade the audio equipment at the high school but ultimately decided to move forward with the project.

“It’s an ebb and flow as things come and go,” Callaghan said.

At a school board meeting in November, board member Robyn Friedman said the district needed to be careful to balance their “wants” with their “needs” as they looked at the making changes to 10-year plan to cover the cost of replacing the faulty air conditioning unit at Thomas Jefferson.

“I think it’s just about what the need is at the time, when you have a physical problem, that rises to the top right away,” Friedman said.

The board will also hold a work session following the board meeting to discuss the preparation of the district’s budget for fiscal year 2019.

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com