RC Superintendent Tidbits
By: Mark Otten
The snow piles are dwindling slowly and that means we are getting closer and closer to golf and track seasons and
of course, the spring walleye bite. With the snow we have had this winter, I am optimistic that the runoff will
make for some great fishing this spring.
The school board has been working with Wilson Architecture to do a facilities audit and we went over those
findings recently. As with any comprehensive review, there were some good things and some areas to address.
Some of the notable areas that need addressed sooner than later are the drainage and water infiltration at the
grade school, flooring throughout both buildings, and the 1960 portion of the high school building. These items
are all needing addressed soon as some of them present safety hazards for students and staff while other concerns
are the overall condition of the building. The board will be having many discussions over the next few years to
determine what the best solutions will be for the district.
Within the solutions that have been presented to the board are some options for additions to current facilities. At
the high school, we are looking at a possible renovation of the 1960 portion of the building which would include
new plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems. These systems all need replaced soon and therefore, it might be the
right time to do a full remodel of this area. While looking at updating these systems, we will also consider
solutions for moving the high school offices to the front of the building which would make our building more safe
and secure. All options are on the table but the consensus is that work needs to be done to make our building
safer for the students and staff.
Another solution to some of the identified issues might be the addition of a grade school building on the high
school campus site. There is an estimated $2,370,264 worth of work needing done at the grade school. According
to our records, the grade school was built in 1955 and was added onto in 1967. That makes the building 68 years
old with the addition being 56 years old. The building has served us well and will continue to do so with some
investments into updating and upgrading the systems. However, there are certain issues that will never be solved
in the current location. For instance, drop off and pick up of students at the grade school is a nightmare. There is
a severe lack of parking and there is no space to add parking around the school. It is issues like this that make me
believe we need to at least explore the option of adding a grade school at the high school campus site where there
would be space to address this concern.