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LOWELL -- The Fort Frye Local Board of Education on Thursday approved a $598,803 district-wide paving contract with McGee Paving and Sealing LLC to pave and paint properties throughout the school district.
This nearly $600,000 contract will pave surfaces at all three elementary schools, Fort Frye High and Middle School and the athletic fieldhouse. Lowell Elementary, where Thursday's meeting was held, will receive additional parking at its lot and a gravel road at the fieldhouse will be blacktopped.
Board member Lloyd Booth noted that the contract will cost about $100,000 less than the amount budgeted.In other business, the board unanimously voted to approve the levy rates for the upcoming fiscal year.
Superintendent Stephanie Starcher said the school district has continued conversations with Memorial Health System in regard to getting the district an athletic trainer.
Coaches have labeled it a priority and the cross country team said they would have done better if they had their own athletic trainer when they went to the state cross country meet, she said.
Starcher also mentioned that the next big construction project for the district will be renovations of Lowell Elementary. The renovations are slated to take place during the summer of 2025.
The board went on a tour through the school to see what they would like to have renovated. One potential problem the board might face is the school's 60 year-old HVAC system.
Toward the end of the meeting, board member Stephanie Lang brought up a law from 2014 stating that the Board of Education "has sole authority of curriculum." The board discussed this law and how it might affect how they handle the curriculum going forward.
After much discussion, some board members indicated that, though they have the final say in curriculum as developed by the district staff, they would like to be more involved with the process going forward.
Clara Noelle can be reached at intern@newsandsentinel.com