TLC interested in moving to the North Grand Building

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Add TLC: The Learning Center to the list of organizations interested in moving to space at 500 North Grand Avenue, the Charles City School District’s former middle school.

Representatives of TLC were at the Charles City Board of Education meeting Monday evening to talk about the possibility of moving the child care center from its current location at 404 N. Jackson St. to the North Grand Building.

Shirley Kelly, the president of the TLC board of directors, told the school board members that TLC is outgrowing its current location.

“We’re getting more and more applications for enrollment,” Kelly said. “We look at our facility right now, we’d like to expand. We have no possibility of expansion.”

And the classrooms at their current location are too small for the activities that they want to provide, she said.

TLC has sent the school district a letter of intent to talk about renting rooms 130B through 134, in the northeast part of the 1970s addition of the building. Those are the former music rooms and industrial arts rooms that are across from the gymnasium, locker rooms and the now unused swimming pool. It also includes a boys and a girls restroom and some office and other space.

Room 136, in the northeast corner of the building, would remain available for the Iowa BIG North program, said Superintendent Mike Fisher, although he added that Iowa BIG North is a flexible program that could be located in many different kinds of spaces.

The letter of intent says that TLC’s next step would be to get an architect to look at the space.

“This will give us an idea on if this project is conducive to our needs and to get an idea of costs,” the letter says. “Once we have met with an architect, we will better be able to give you a timeline for the project.”

Kelly said TLC is excited about the possibilities of partnering with the school district and the “many, many different ways that we could start working directly with the school system.”

One possibility she mentioned is increasing access to TLC by high school students interested in careers in early childhood education.

Pam Ost, the TLC director, who was also at the meeting, said the building they are currently in is owned by North Iowa Community Action of Mason City, which also uses space in the building for a Head Start program. TLC rents space from North Iowa Community Action.

Kelly said it is likely that in the next year or two the Head Start program will expand and will need more space in that building.

Ost said their current lease renews every June, so they would like to be able to make the transition before the summer of 2020.

The school district is currently working with developer Shawn Foutch to convert much of the older original western part of the building into market-rate apartments.

School board member Josh Mack asked Kelly and Ost if that development raised concerns regarding TLC moving into the building.

“We see that as a plus,” said Ost, adding that the presence of on-site child care could be a marketing tool to get younger families interested in the proposed apartments.

Fisher said the district has informed Foutch about the TLC possibility and he is enthusiastic about the idea and what it could do to help market the apartments.

“We’re excited about what after-school programming could be like for our students as well,” Fisher said. “I just would love to get the idea of our families in town getting used to bringing their kids from birth to 12 to a Charles City facility, a Charles City campus.”

School board President Robin Macomber said she wants to make it a board goal to do whatever is necessary to help TLC make the move.

“I see no negatives in this whatsoever and I want to guarantee that it happens,” she said.

Also at the Board of Education meeting Monday evening, held at the Lincoln Elementary school, the board:

• Went on a tour of the building, led by Principal Marcia DeVore, to look at changes that have been made to make the building a more inviting space and more conducive to learning.
New warmer brown and beige colors, highlighted by Comet orange, have been used throughout the building, and signage both on the building and on individual rooms inside have been redesigned.

Of special note are large poster-sized photos mounted above the student lockers that show pictures of the students.

“We want to make sure every student sees themselves on the walls at least once,” DeVore said.

Fisher said the changes, made largely by the Lincoln staff themselves, are a prototype for changes intended for every building in the district.

• Heard a report from a few of the FFA students who recently went on a trip to Schuyler, Nebraska, to help a cattle farmer there deal with devastating flooding. The group raised $6,757 to fund the trip and spent about $2,727. The remaining $4,030 will be donated to Schuyler Flood Relief.

• Approved group insurance benefits for dental, term life, long term disability, flexible spending and voluntary vision and life benefits for employees.

• Approved a resolution making inter-fund transfers from the district sales tax fund to the Capital Projects Athletic Complex funds to pay expenditures. The resolution makes it clear that donations to the district will be used for the softball and baseball fields to be built near the high school, instead of land the district owns north of Charles City as had been previously proposed.

• Approved the following personnel changes:

— Resignations: Holli Gorman, 8th grade math teacher and assistant varsity girls basketball; Laurie Boss, 4th grade teacher; Malinda Groth Mick, elementary media and technology; Amy Johnson, PE teacher; all effective at the end of the school year.

— Appointments: Heather Faulkner, preschool instructional assistant, $14.66 per hour, start April 23; Kady Korbel, 9th grade softball coach, $2,664, start May 1.

— Classified employee transfer: Angela Parsons, from part-time instructional assistant to full-time instructional assistant.

— Summer workers at $9 per hour: Derek Labarge, Melany Pleggenkuhle, Wendy Labarge, Carole Cole, Sonja Cotton, Tricia Kilby, Kim Carman, Christine Schlader, Bobby Shultz and Terri Hay.

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