Still no playground for LLW 3-6 graders

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Ironwood — Even though it was expected before the start of the school year, the playground equipment intended for the Ironwood Area School’s third through sixth graders has yet to be delivered to the district — an issue brought up during the public comment portion of Monday’s Board of Education meeting.

“I’m just kind of wondering if the board — on the record — can tell me when, where, what’s the plan,” Jeff Ramme asked the board after recounting how the installation of playground equipment has been discussed since the elementary schools moved to Luther L. Wright in 2014.

Ramme’s question resulted in the planned update on the status of the equipment to be moved earlier in the agenda and spurred a discussion of the various shipping delays that have prevented the equipment from being delivered to the district.

Superintendent Tim Kolesar said he talked to a company representative on Wednesday, Sept. 16, who said the equipment was being shipped from Minnesota and should reach Ironwood by Friday, Sept. 18.

“The installers were here and the playground equipment didn’t show up,” Kolesar said.

He was then told the playground equipment should have arrived by Monday, which also didn’t happen.

Kolesar said he has since been assured by the company that the equipment would be delivered this week.

“I don’t know what else to say, other than the fact they promised me it was going to be shipped last Tuesday from Delano, Minn.,” Kolesar said.

Ramme stressed the importance of the playground equipment for the kids, who he said, currently have very little to do during recess.

“I think we are as anxious as you are to get this project done,” said board President Pro-Tem Ed Rickard, who was running the meeting in board President Steve Thomas’ absence.

The district has put volleyball and soccer nets in the recess area for students until the equipment arrived, Kolesar said.

He also expressed the frustration at the delays, responding to Ramme’s question regarding whether the district’s goal was to have the equipment in place this year by saying the plan called for it to be put into place Monday.

“It better be by Monday or else I’m going to find another company, to be honest with you,” Kolesar said. “I mean they promised. They said, first of all, that it was going to be before school started, then the installers were (installing a playground installation elsewhere), and they delayed it to this past weekend. No-one is more disappointed than me.”

The equipment will be placed in the northeast area of the “dust bowl,” near the existing climbing equipment, Kolesar said.

The was also discussion of using the old playground equipment that was removed from Sleight School. Kolesar said there was some debate about whether the equipment could be reinstalled, as there was minimal damage to it during the removal process.

The new equipment was funded through a mixture of fundraising and district appropriations.

According to information presented at the board’s July meeting, roughly $20,000 of the $44,000 needed to purchase the equipment came from the district’s fundraising efforts with the district paying the remaining costs from funds left over from recent renovations to the locker room showers.

The design of the playground was one of four provided to the district and was chosen as the winning design by the district’s second through sixth graders.

“They thought this design had the most options,” former elementary principal Nicholas Steinmetz told the Daily Globe during the fundraising effort in March. “They said this one had the most variety of things that could be used.”

In other business:

— The board heard an update on changes to the elementary students lunch schedule. According to Kolesar, the senior high lunch room will now be used by grades three, five and six during the B-lunch period when it is not in use by the older students.

— The board heard the initial results of the district’s audit which has the district ending the the 2014-15 school year with a fund balance of $157,800, down from the previous year’s fund balance of $414,953. A full audit presentation will be held at October’s board meeting.

— The board made several personnel changes. Ed Lakner was hired as an OdysseyWare instructor, moving him back to full-time status. OdysseyWare is the district’s online curriculum, Kolesar told the Daily Globe. Judy Balchik was taken off lay-off status and hired to teach two sections of English 7 and one section as OdysseyWare instructor. Candace Jacobs was hired as a full-time art teacher, splitting her time between grades K-4 and 7-12, according to information presented at the meeting. Three lunch and recess monitors — Vanessa Halverson, Charity Ruotsala and Lisa Sackmann — were also hired.

— The board tabled approving the Luther L. Wright K-12 School Improvement Plan until October as several board members weren’t present Monday.

— The board heard an update on the district’s Great Start Readiness Program. One item included in the update was the news that the GSRP meals would now be served “family style” where food is passed around the table and students serve themselves. Kolesar explained the thought behind the switch was it would give the students the ability to choose to eat which foods they like, while ensuring they still eat nutritious meals.

— K-12 Principal Denise Woodward informed the board of her ongoing effort to revise the district’s disciplinary procedures to make students more responsible for their actions and eliminate Saturday detentions.

which she said were “not working.”