A lengthy meeting of the Columbia School Board last Thursday primarily featured discussion on unfortunate developments regarding the budget for the high school’s renovations, with further discussion concerning video scoreboards and a tentative school year budget.

School board member Adam Hemken led most of the discussion on the work being done at Columbia High School, as he’s provided construction updates at other recent meetings.

As Hemken reported, the district recently received the first informed estimates for the second and third phases of the project – a competition gym and general renovations to the current building, respectively – to find that they are $3-5 million over budget. He added this is essentially 10 percent of the overall project.

Hemken continued, noting several elements of the project originally in phase one such as green rooms and added bleachers for the new gym were moved to phase three. All of these shifts bring phase three from a cost of about $2.5-3 million to $5 million.

Structural costs coming back higher, Hemken said, have brought the cost of phase two from $12-13 million to $14-15 million.

As the conversation continued, Hemken brought three possible courses of action before the board, the first of which was simply to stay on course, consulting with the district’s contacts at the brokerage and investment firm Stifel to see about borrowing an additional $5 million, anticipating that the district’s equalized assessed value would allow them to maintain the goal of keeping taxes flat even with additional bonds.

Hemken noted on this option it is not his preference, saying “I’m personally not one that likes to just raise the budget just because there’s more available, but it is an option.”

The second option Hemken suggested was to significantly scale back phase three of the project, still needing to increase the budget but only by a matter of $2-3 million. He noted that the budget for phase two currently brings the district to the maximum budget for the overall project, so this option would be “approving a phase three cap.”

Hemken said a number of phase three renovations to the current facility could be kept, pointing to new flooring, new food service equipment to increase the cafeteria’s capabilities, elevators and partial fire suppression, all adding up to about $626,000 not including electric and other ancillary costs.

He said this version of phase three would cost about $1-1.5 million and would not include remodeled bathrooms for the current building nor renovations to the current life skills and media center, green rooms or some current classrooms.

The third proposal Hemken brought to the board was to simply cut phase three entirely, though he quickly said he felt this wasn’t worthwhile as, even by increasing the budget, the district would still be able to meet the original goal of keeping the tax levy flat.

Hemken offered a summative statement on the recent estimates.

“I was surprised when we got the numbers, but they did show us,” Hemken said. “It’s just bad news is bad news.”

Columbia School Board President Greg Meyer, who has been closely involved in the construction process alongside Hemken, noted phase one turned out better than expected in terms of the budget.

“We got good news on the phase one because it came in a little bit under what we were expecting, so we had a little there, but also, from the get-go, when we started the design and everything else, our main goal was structures because we can’t go back and add a building later very reasonably, but we can sure remodel something later,” Meyer said.

Meyer’s sentiments emphasizing structure over remodeling became a theme for the rest of this lengthy discussion.

Members of the board noted how different elements of the project had been altered or cut, such as a walking track for the gym or a referees room. The previous plans to make the entire new gym a storm structure was changed to simply hone in on the safety of  new locker rooms, still providing protection but at a much lower cost.

An individual from Cobalt Construction Consulting, the owner’s representative selected by the board to help oversee the project, offered her thoughts, speaking positively about the project as a whole and noting that the district has done well in keeping the budget in mind while still meeting goals.

Though she noted there are few places to make cuts that would meaningfully impact the budget, she emphasized that many elements of phase three are meant to address future growth in the district, and it isn’t a necessity to have them by the end of this project – though the district might find the cost of such renovations to be greater down the line compared to getting them done now as part of the larger ongoing construction.

Meyer expressed a similar sentiment.

“The whole project is for future growth,” Meyer said. “It is not an immediate need. So a lot of these areas can easily wait, and they can even sit empty if we need to. It’s nothing that we have to do or it’s pressing.”

The aforementioned green rooms to be used in conjunction with phase one’s new auditorium received particular attention by the board.

Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode, along with Hemken and others, noted the space would still be functional as a dressing room for students just as his office is still functional even though it’s housed in a classroom.

Though theatre students might have to use folding tables and other make-shift methods immediately, members of the board suggested that amenities to improve the space’s function as a green room could be added down the line, perhaps as a project among the school’s shop class.

Grode further spoke to his concern about increasing the project’s budget by adjusting the district’s bond borrowing plan with Stifel, noting districts generally want to manage their borrowing in such a way that allows them to pursue large projects every 20 years.

“I’m feeling very much like I’m at the car dealership with my son who says, ‘I want that!’ and I’m going, ‘No,’ and I can do that easier,” Grode said. “My feeling with all of this is that she can make it work, but I don’t know if that’s the best decision for us. This is a financial thing that we need to make sure that we don’t screw it up for the next 20 years, because we need to make sure that that time frame is there for the big jobs.”

Though sentiment among the board seemed generally in favor of Hemken’s second proposal for a slightly increased budget and a cut back phase three, it was ultimately indicated board members would like specific numbers and a better understanding of the project’s financials, with Meyer and Hemken questioning how elements of phase three have been estimated to be so expensive.

Though renovation woes at CHS were the biggest discussion item for the board, much time was also spent on the previously discussed possibility of video scoreboards for the multi-purpose field and new gym.

Grode reiterated much of what was discussed at October’s meeting, with the owner of Digital Scoreboards reaching out to the district as the business recently moved to Columbia.

These scoreboards, as Grode said, would provide the school with new opportunities ranging from ad revenue – estimated at about $100,000 given the many local businesses that could get involved – to a new class geared toward developing graphics for the board.

Such a class or a related program could also involve teaching students how to operate the board, a highly beneficial skill given how, as Grode pointed out, many colleges provide scholarships for students with such a background.

“With video scoreboards, districts are able to do advertising, and with the advertising, his company has a way of assisting us with that,” Grode said. “Ultimately, though, what you want to do is you want to form a curriculum, and you have a class where the students learn how to do the graphics and the design, but then they also learn how to do the gameday itinerary.”

Board discussion concerned particulars about an advertising collaboration with Digital Scoreboards as well as specifics concerning getting new boards for the current gym, temporarily installing them in the current gym only to move them to the planned competition gym when completed and other possibilities.

It was also noted the district’s current scoreboard provider, Nevco, had been contacted and offered to match the price given by Digital Scoreboards, though the board indicated a preference for the Columbia business given the curriculum offering and advertising assistance.

On this topic, the board approved $285,000 for a video scoreboard at the multi-purpose field – paired with another board on its back – as well as two video scoreboards to be installed in the current gym though ultimately moved to the competition gym when it is completed.

When questioned on whether the district’s budget for the year could accommodate the cost, Grode said current fund balances could do so, though he added it would likely be a deficit year.

Another action item approved by the board was authorization of the estimated aggregate tax levy for 2024.

Grode’s assessment of the levy was positive. He pointed out that a public hearing on the levy is not required as the district will not be requesting 5 percent or more compared to last year as the levy is only increasing by 4.59 percent.

“I’m not saying that, in the future, you won’t have to have a hearing and extend the taxes, but our taxes are below four right now, so there’s nice room to move there,” Grode said.

It was also noted this was merely a preliminary approval, and the board will be voting on the matter again in December.

The board also approved a graduation date and time for the year: Sunday, May 18, at 1 p.m. on the multi-purpose field. In the event of unfortunate weather, graduation would take place in the gym.

Board discussion noted that a graduation time slightly earlier in the afternoon seemed desirable in order to avoid extreme heat in the late afternoon. Though noon was originally suggested, it was argued that families attending church in the morning would be inconvenienced.

The board also approved the first reading of new board policies Press Plus Issue 117. The 2024 teacher and administrator salary and benefits report was tabled for next month.

Also approved was the years of service record, with Hemken pointing out a substantial gap beginning in 2015 in which few to no teachers came into the district for almost a decade.

Grode spoke about how the faculty in many districts often consist of many new teachers and many veteran teachers, also speaking on one possible reason for gap.

“I believe – and I’d have to do a deeper dive – there was also 5-10 years in Illinois that funding was just so, so poor, nobody was replacing jobs,” Grode said.

Other discussion in the meeting included the monthly administration report, with this month featuring Columbia Middle School.

CMS Principal Dawn Mueller spoke briefly about some of the goings-on at the school recently, including a well-attended Veterans Day ceremony, before CMS Counselor Rosemary Leingang spoke about the school’s Mindful Movement PE Class which began recently.

Leingang touched on the program’s daily schedule including Mindset Monday focusing on mediation, Workout Wednesday with weights and other stations the students jump between and Thursday health classes.

“Kids are really opening up,” Leingang said. “I think they’re finding this environment less threatening, and they’re able to express themselves without being judged. It’s a pretty calm environment.”

Columbia Assistant Superintendent Amanda Ganey’s monthly report followed, as she offered congratulations to the high school soccer and volleyball teams for their performances, also offering shoutouts to Eagleview Elementary Administrative Assistant Jamie Mansfield, Parkview Elementary second grade teacher Angie Barnett, CMS Administrative Assistant Sarah Cocos-Stumpf and CHS special education teacher Derrick Rozycke.

Ganey also spoke about the district’s performance on the recently released Illinois Report Card, highlighting strong performance of each school – particularly CHS – which received an exemplary summative designation.

“Three of our schools commendable, which that means we are meeting all of our achievement gaps, which is an amazing place to be,” Ganey said. “A lot of hard work happening at our commendable schools. Exemplary is also top notch, and we should be very proud of all of our hard work.”

At the end of the meeting, Hemken spoke briefly as he recently noticed an apparent discrepancy with the middle school’s electric bill being about $18,000 per month, almost the same as the other three schools combined.

Grode said he would look into the matter as Hemken said it could simply be a matter of the facility’s meter needing to be checked on.

Meyer also offered congratulations to his fellow board members who will serve on the board for another four years as he alongside board secretary Tyson Search, Andrea Khoury and Hemken recently filed for the April election and will be running unopposed.

He further offered congratulations to Grode who recently received his doctorate.