Ronan fills vacant trustee position, grapples with locker room renovations
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
It was a busy night Nov. 14 in the Ronan High School Library as a new board member for the District 30-2 position was named, but the board spent most of the evening discussing renovations to the high school locker rooms. The board recently chose Architects Northwest to draw up a plan for the remodel of the locker rooms, which currently don’t meet Title 9 requirements. Title 9 states that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
“There is a size disparity from the girls’ side versus the boys’ side,” Ronan Superintendent Andy Holmlund said.
The new design will be a 50-50 split between the existing two locker rooms, making the new locker room compliant with Title 9. The new plans are for an addition on the outside of the existing locker rooms to create more space and additional facilities.
“I asked the coaches, ‘What is their dream locker room,’” Larson said. “We had a couple of changes, like getting rid of the extra storage space and turning the training rooms into a common place for the students. The new renovations will be exactly the same for both men’s and women’s. We will also have new changing rooms for coaches and officials.”
“I don’t think it’s wise to get rid of storage,” Pablo Elementary Principal Frank Ciez said. “You always need storage.”
“One of my big concerns is, it’s nice to have additional facilities, but I think we should look at the option to rework what we have to be in compliance of law,” trustee Bob Cornwell noted. “Is putting half a million dollars into a facility for sports the best thing?”
“I believe we should absolutely upgrade the locker rooms,” Ronan High School Principal Tom Stack added. “It depends on what kind of grants we get; but as a school district we have to do this.”
Board Chair Chris Lynch suggested that the school go ahead and make the facility Title 9 compliant, because they could always add on later. The board agreed to get a couple of plans and bids to see how far they can go in building the addition in pieces. They will then take a look at the bids to just remodel the existing space or shell, or complete a remodel, before they make an approval.
“We can bid in two pieces,” Holmlund said. “We can get part of the number so you’d know what it would be, and decide if you want to pursue south of the building or not.
The board also interviewed four candidates vying for the vacated District 30-2 position, which was previously held by Wendy Thingelstad. Roger Romero, Fabian Deneault, Milla Koger and John Moon were asked why they would be a good fit for the board.
“I want to give back to the community,” candidate Koger said. “I’m interested in developing a partnership with the community, students, teachers and family.”
“I’m excited in the direction the school is moving,” Romero stated. “I would like to help direct the mission of educating youth.”
After a 20-minute interview, trustee Tom Anderson nominated Fabian Deneault, while trustee Mark Clary nominated Roger Romero, with Cornwell making a second on the motion.
Trustees voted four in favor and two against for Deneault, while Romero received two votes in favor, and four against, giving Deneault the vacated seat.
After Deneault was sworn in by Lake County Superintendent of Schools Gale Decker, the board moved on to administration reports.
Ciez reported that Bingo for Books and Family Science Night were both big successes. He also noted that 24.6 percent of Pablo Elementary students had perfect attendance in October, and students will join the “Bear Club” if they complete 100 percent of their homework in November.
For the middle school, Principal Mark Johnston reported 245 of 406 students made the honor roll.
During Larson’s report, both he and Holmlund awarded Susan Lake with a plaque for her fundraising efforts throughout the years.
“I finally got her to a school board meeting,” Holmlund laughed.
After Lake was applauded by the board, Holmlund gave his monthly report, beginning with good news regarding enrollment.
“This year we’re holding within two (students) since the year started,” he noted. “In the past, we’ve seen much greater fluctuations, but the economy reduces mobility. We have full classrooms and that’s exciting.”
Holmlund also updated the board on the budget, stating the deficit reduction super-commitee has until Nov. 21 to make a decision on what to cut. He added that up to $2 trillion could be cut nationwide over the next 10 years.
“We really don’t know the direction it’s heading in, or what’s going on,” the superintendent said. “If they don’t vote up across the board 7 percent can be cut, which is a significant amount of money. I’m interested to see what will be coming.”
Holmlund added that the district is sitting where it needs to be in the fiscal year and recently received its third payment of Impact Aid.
