The Lake Superior School Board met last Tuesday night for updates on district bus garages and to talk about some policy changes that will be adopted as the result of efforts by the Minnesota School Board Association’s work with State Legislators to support and enhance public education in the State. The Board voted to adopt the recommended policy changes, but will be reviewing four policies having to do with student discipline, credit for learning, attendance and requirements for graduation. The reason for the review of these policies is so that Administrators have time to understand the policy language in order to implement them properly. Policy changes will be posted soon on the district’s Policies and Notifications webpage.
The Board received an update on construction of the bus garages and authorized that the work be offered out for bid. Ekalath Sophaphanh of ICS presented architectural renderings of both facilities which will be metal manufactured buildings. The Two Harbors garage will have a footprint of 150 by 100 feet and will have space for up to 18 buses, plus a maintenance bay. The Silver Bay facility will have a footprint of 100 by 68 feet and will have space for up to 8 buses, with a maintenance bay. A total of $3 million dollars has been budgeted for the project and cost projections for the work come in at $3.3 to $3.4 million dollars. There are funding sources available that can help make up for any cost over run that occurs. Bidding will happen next month and the Board will review and award the bid in December. Construction of the garages will begin next April with project completion expected in January of 2026.
Dr. Jeremy Rupp is the new part time Community Education Director and the Board welcomed him at last week’s meeting. Dr. Rupp has 25 years of experience in Community Education and is passionate about fostering student success and working with the LSSD community. In his comments to the Board, Dr. Rupp identified himself as “a community education kid”, saying that the community ed opportunities that were available to him as a young student are what captured his attention and inspired him to work in the field.
In other business, the Board approved a bid from Horizon Commercial Pools for repair of the pool at William Kelley School. Board members commented on the importance of returning the pool to service for both student and community use. Stay tuned for updates on when the pool will reopen.
Ribbon cutting ceremonies will be held soon for both William Kelley and Minnehaha schools. The public will be invited to tour the buildings to see the renovations and improvements. Dates and times to be announced.
The next LSSD Board meeting is scheduled for November 12th, at 6:00 PM at William Kelley School.
