Salem Community High School Superintendent Dr. Brad Detering discusses summer building projects at Monday night’s meeting as board member Marla Toliver looks on. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
The Salem Community High School Board Monday night approved two major summer improvement projects. The track will be resurfaced and the football lighting replaced.
Superintendent Dr. Brad Detering says Byrne and Jones of St. Louis was approved to complete the $193,469 track project.
“The track resurfacing program will be a thin self-leveling polyurethane surface that will go over the top and the new rubber will be put down on all the surfaces. It’s very similar to putting a 2nd roof on a house where you are going back over on top of it.”
The high jump and long jump runways and pits will also be improved.
The board approved a $295,000 low bid from Barton Electric of Aviston to install new premiere lighting from Musco.
“Poles will be removed from the inside of the track where they are a bit of a safety hazard and quite frankly the poles themselves are quite old. We will have galvanized poles that will be aligned and even with the stands to provide better lighting for us, more efficient, plus it will allow us to light the parking lot on the west side of the football field which has been a little bit of a concern because it’s a little bit too dark.”
The school board will look at bids for the renovation of the band and chorus rooms at the April meeting. Detering says the proposal includes replacement of the carpeting with carpet tiles, renovation of the storage areas, as well as new paint, ceiling, and lighting.
The building fund will pay for the track and lighting improvements, while the new one-cent sales tax for schools will pay for the band and chorus room improvements.
Detering also announced the district hopes to add a social worker by January of next year. He reported they are working with a person to become a licensed school social worker. Detering says the social worker, school resource officer, and building improvements are all delivering on the promise the school district made on how they would use the 1-cent sales tax if approved by voters.
