St. Ignatius schools seek grant money for facility renovations
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ST. IGNATIUS — The St. Ignatius school board voted unanimously to approve hiring ICEM Engineering Inc. in Bozeman to write grants that could total about $325,000 for St. Ignatius schools.
The money would come from Quality School Planning Grants, or House Bill 15, which was signed into law on May 5th by Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The new program provides more than 11 million dollars in funding for 30 schools with infrastructure projects.
According to Superintendant Bob Lewandowski there are several facility issues that the district has tried to fix and address.
“We are on the grant hunt to help provide for our needs,” Lewandowski said. He added that ICEM Engineering would not receive any money if the school district is not awarded a grant. If they do receive a grant then the company would earn a commission.
Making the locker rooms and bathrooms handicapped-accessible and fixing the library and gym roofs are the first projects the board intends to work on if grant money is awarded to the school district.
“When it rains or snows it takes about four trash cans to catch the water,” Lewandowski said of the library roof. “It is something we are going to address.”
The school district is currently working to address a mice problem that has plagued the family and consumer science classroom for some time. The cabinets in that room will be torn out and pest control has been called.
According to family and consumer science teacher Terry Cable, her room also has other issues that will have to wait for now.
“I can’t plug in three appliances without blowing the fuse,” she said, adding that there are also problems with water backing up.
The gym floor in the high school is currently being sanded and re-painted. Work is also being finished on two new additions to the multi-purpose room and a new office entryway in the high school.
“The biggest issue that we face is how to address our facilities and our needs,” Lewandowski said.
Plans for renovating the playground are also being discussed and Lewandowski said he would like community input and support.
“It really is a community facility because people use it even after school. It is something we really need,” he said.
According to Lewandowski prices for playground equipment range from $25,000 per piece up to $50,000.
During the meeting the board also voted to increase the pay of elementary principal Cherie Stobie and high school and middle school principal Jason Sargent by four percent. They also approved increasing the salary of the technology director and the building and grounds director by four percent.
In other business, the board approved the calendar for the next school year. While some favored a later start to the school year, the majority of board voted 4-1 to get the current schedule approved and out to the community. The first day of school will be Aug. 22 for teachers and Aug. 24 for students.
