New playground planned at Mission Schools
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MISSION – The St. Ignatius School District has one major campus facelift in the works and another in the fundraising stages.
At a Dec. 17 school board meeting, administrators gave reports on the progress of a construction project that will update the exterior of the district’s high school that was built in 1939 . A $534,590 grant authorized through the Quality Schools Program signed into law by Governor Bullock earlier this year will pay for the construction. The Quality Schools Program authorized $11,418,642 in project grant funds for 30 school facility projects across Montana in the 2015 biennium. The projects must improve school infrastructure.
The Mission project will see complete renovation of exterior siding, doors, and windows and partial replacement of the roof over the junior high and high school building which was built in 1939.
According to documents from Slate Architecture, the firm that wrote the project proposal, the project is needed because exterior panels installed in the 1991 and 1995 have rotted away and failed. This, and old window trim and windowsills, have allowed moisture to leak into the building. The roof is also failing and needs to be replaced, the documents state.
“A lot of things are happening,” Superintendent Bob Lewandowski said as he showed the school board renderings of what the building will look like when the project is finished. “It’s going to look new from the outside.”
The project is expected to be complete by August 2014.
In addition to a shiny exterior, the district is also trying to acquire more modern playground equipment in a separate endeavor.
“The community is starting to get very excited about it,” St. Ignatius Elementary School Principal Tammy Demien said. The current playground equipment is old and enclosed with woodchips. New equipment will have more modern amenities that will include handicap accessible features for wheelchair-bound students.
“We have two kids that are in wheelchairs so we thought it was really important to have that,” Demien said. “It’s really exciting that they will be able to experience it.” The total cost of the project is estimated to be $150,000 and will include two apparatuses. The district wants to fundraise between eight and 10 percent of the funds, and seek grants to fund the remainder of the project.
The district is selling bricks that can be stamped with a name or message and will be built into a walkway somewhere on campus in the future. The bricks cost $50, $100, and $150. Demien said a walk-a-thon to raise money is also being planned for the second week in January. Demien is also searching for corporate entities that might be willing to match the amount raised by the school.
In other business:
• The board approved a sick leave bank where staff members can donate their sick days.
• Lewandowski said the district might have to turn away out-of-district transfer students in some elementary grades because of high enrollment.
• The district unveiled promotional calendar posters made for winter sports that will be placed around town to let the community know when, where and who is playing.
