W-MU adds three new buses to the roster

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? It was a pretty run of the mill meeting for the Winfield-Mt. Union School Board Wednesday night.

Following reports from administrators and updating four board policies ? 502.6 Weapons, 503.1 Student Conduct, 505.8 Parent Family Engagement and 507.9R1 Wellness Regulation - to be consistent with the Iowa Association of School Boards, the board moved onto the three items in general business.

School buses were the top item Wednesday night.

The school received quotes for gas, diesel and propane fueled buses. The district received two quotes for gas buses, one for a 71 seater and for a gas bus with 77 seats. ?When you get varsity, JV, and both boys? and girls? teams, it?s just not enough room,? Barb Brown, transportation director, said of the 71-seat bus.

Brown also stated her preferences laid with the gas buses as the district had been having trouble with getting the diesel buses to start in the winter months. ?We want to go to gas because by 2017-18 the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is going to have more rules and regulations for diesels and we?ll be spending a lot more money on additives and such,? she said.

The board approved leasing three 77-seat gas buses for $83,861.

The district also approved a sharing agreement with Danville Community School District. Superintendent Jeff Maeder said administrators from Danville inquired about sending students to W-MU for an agriculture class. Maeder said students would be responsible for their own transportation. He also suggested charging a flat rate for the class, like what SCC charges for students who take courses through them, rather than the traditional percentage of cost for sharing staff. The board approved charging $250 per student per class.

Rounding out the night?s agenda, the board approved the proposal and fee for BLDD Architects for their community engagement services associated with the proposed building projects for the district. The services BLDD will provide includes planning meetings, including concept department and revisions, presentation development, initial cost estimation and synthesis and analysis of community input. BLDD will help facilitate four facility committee meetings, three community engagement meetings and one faculty/staff meeting.

The board approved the services and the fee of $26,400. The first community engagement meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m., at the school.

In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Kerri Anderson as junior high softball coach. The board also approved the hiring of Nathan Faler as a bus driver.

The next regular meeting of the W-MU School Board will be held on Monday, Nov. 7, at 6 p.m., in the media center. The second community engagement meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m.