Charles City School District approves new lights for football field, too

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The new baseball and softball diamond construction is proceeding on schedule, and Monday night the Charles City school board approved another addition to the high school athletic complex.

The board approved a lease-purchase proposal from Musco Sports Lighting to replace the lighting at the football field with new LED lights and metal poles for $238,400, payable over five years at 3.95% interest.

Superintendent Mike Fisher said the bid on the new football lighting had been received earlier in the year, before a decision had even been made on the new ball diamonds.

The quote from Musco was received as the district was gathering information on various facilities upgrades, he said, and when they contacted Musco to see if the bid was still good, the company said yes, but only through the end of this year.

Fisher said the current lighting is getting to the point where there is some concern about the continued safety of the wooden poles, and some of the lights are needing to be replaced each season.

The new lights will provide better illumination, be safer and more energy efficient, and will be able to be controlled remotely.

In June, Musco Sports Lighting said it would donate a $400,000 state-of-the art LED lighting system for the ball diamonds.

Diane Crookham-Johnson, a Charles City alumna, attorney, former Iowa State Board of Education member and a daughter of Joe Crookham, the principal owner, president and CEO of Musco, said at the time that her memories of Charles City and especially former softball coach Jerry Newton inspired her to push for the donation.

Board of Education Director Josh Mack asked if the lighting system for the football field would be as advanced as the system for the ball diamonds, which will be able to feature various colors flashing in patterns, like many professional sports facilities have.

“These are more the standard model, since we are paying for these,” Fisher said, adding that the donated lights for the ball diamonds would be “some of the nicest lights in the country.”

Also at the meeting Monday evening, the school board:

• Approved a small change in the school calendar to allow the district to build three snow days into the current 2019-20 schedule that won’t have to be made up. Fisher said the goal is to balance not having to extend the school year too many days with not giving up too many instructional hours. A public hearing about the change drew no public comments.

• Set a public hearing for the school board meeting on Dec. 9 to receive comments regarding a proposal to spend about $63,000 from the district’s flexibility funds on various projects ranging from about $600 to $12,500. Fisher said the money comes from several accounts that have become dormant over the years but weren’t closed out, and the projects were awarded on a “grant system” where faculty and staff could propose projects.

Here are the proposed projects (Building — Purpose — Amount):

• Washington — Common learning spaces update — $2,000.
• Washington — Furnish additional 2nd grade classroom — $8,500.
• Middle School — 5th grade classroom library, Lucy Calkins — $5,330.
• Middle School — 6th & 7th grade, Big ideas math — $4,463.10.
• High School — AP History Books — $4,167.90.
• High School — Tool storage cage for wood shop — $4,992.
• High School — Literature that is modernized, relevant & engaging — $1,169.35.
• High School — Dust Collector system with new ducting — $4,795.99.
• Activities — Football scoreboard repair — $1,500.
• Building & Grounds — Washington Signage — $1,377.
• Building & Grounds — Carrie Lane Signage — $595.
• Communication — Seven radios & base station, antenna — $2,053.
• Board of Education — Microphone for local channel audio — $300.
• Board of Education — Consultant fee, community information — $12,500.
• Public Relations — Beautification projects, districtwide — $2,500.
• Technology — PowerSchool, Performance Matters set-up fee — $5,775.

• Noted that the board will receive the Better Boardsmanship Team Achievement Award for the 2018-19 school year, one of only four school district boards of directors in the state to do so.

• Approved these resignations: Jeremy Heyer, middle school boys track, effective Monday, and Kelly Evens, instructional assistant at Washington Elementary, effective Nov. 29.

• Approved these appointments: Kelsi Crooks, assistant varsity girls basketball coach, $3,334; Caley Johnson, TLC model teacher at Washington, $670; Sandy Pleggenkuhle, TLC model teacher at Lincoln, $670; and Stephanie Hervol, TLC model teacher at the high school, $670; all effective Monday.

• Approved four volunteer wrestling coaches: Jordan Smith, Dario Gamino, James Wenzel and Lucas Johnson, all effective Monday.

• Approved the transfer of Mark Davidson from Washington head custodian to Lincoln/North Grand Building head custodian.

• Approved the resignation and agreement with bus driver Pam Lumley, effective Dec. 6.

The next board meeting will be Monday, Nov. 25, when new board members will be sworn in and the board reorganized.