DARLINGTON – District Administrator Denise Wellnitz informed the Darlington School District Board of Education that the high school library would need more bookshelves or stacks. She estimated the cost at about $15,000.
Wellnitz said that Scholastic Equipment Co. LLC had initially come to the school and measured the room, following the floor plan at the start of the building project. They didn’t take into account that the taller stacks were going to be back to back and calculated wrong when ordering. Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, Inc. had created the design but Scholastic did not follow the plan completely.
The board asked if they had received everything else they have ordered. Wellnitz said yes. They asked if the taller stacks were not put back to back, would there be any room gained. They initially had the stacks butted up against the wall but the library was then redesigned at one point and the stacks were moved.
President Aaron Wolfe asked if they would be receiving a discount for the mistake that was made. Wellnitz was unsure, as they had not heard anything back from Scholastic.
“Have they thought about doing some book purging?” Matt Wilson suggested. Wellnitz stated they had done some purging and thought they have done all they could do at the moment but there still wasn’t enough room. The books that are not on the shelves are currently in boxes.
“What about the woods department taking on a project? We will have to see if it will work into their curriculum because now we are pushing a $300,000 library,” Matt Crist said.
“We have done things to improve those areas so why not ask if woods or metals could make something,” Teresa Siegenthaler added.
The board asked what was the amount of time it would be to get the new stacks. Wellnitz said that since Scholastic still hasn’t gotten back to the district, she was not sure.
Nick Zuberbuhler asked where the money would come from to pay for the stacks. Wellnitz said it would be the district budget.
The school board gave Wellnitz a few options to look into, such as seeing if more books could be purged, if the woods department would be able to make the shelving and looking into other companies that make similar types of shelving, before they would make any final decision.
Administrators Report
Wellnitz updated the board on the high school projects. She estimated that the inside work was 95 percent done while the roof was 90 percent done. The completion of the roof will not interfere with classes going on throughout the school day. Some door handles are not installed as they are on back order. The clouds for the library have not been installed but the furniture is all in the room.
Crist commented how he was frustrated and disappointed in the roofing crew for not cleaning up after themselves and leaving a mess for the cleaning crew to clean up.
Closed Session
The Darlington School District Board of Education approved:
-Annie Doyle as a Special Education Assistant.
-Hailee Kammerud as the Assistant Spring Play Director.