— Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Teresa Wood Northeast Hamilton School Principal Mike Kruger conducts a new school year tour of the campus grounds during Thursday's school board meeting. One of the biggest projects was the development of the playground area.

The Northeast Hamilton School Board gave the nod to begin exploring reorganization at its regular meeting on Thursday.

The board tasked Superintendent Mike Sherwood in researching and developing a process in which NEH would consider reorganization with the Webster City Community School District. If the eventual plan is approved by a simple majority vote by the patrons in both districts, the plan would take effect beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.

Both school boards will start working on a reorganizational plan in September. Public hearings will be held with patrons of both districts. The goal is to present the final plan to patrons for an April 2018 vote.

“I don’t seen any benefit for waiting,” said NEH School Board President Eric Patterson prior to the vote.

“No, there is no benefit for dragging it out,” echoed board member Marlin Pruismann.

Also voting were board members Sara Zorn and Tyler Burton. Bruce Mark was absent.

Principal Mike Kruger took board members on a tour of the campus. First stop was the playground, which is still under construction.

When completed, the playground will feature additional swings, four square courts and jungle gym bars. A sandbox has also been added. The playground will feature a walking track, a picnic area and a rest area.

Board member Pruismann noted the playground will attract visitors even during off-school hours and asked the administration to investigate liability signage.

It was hoped that the work would have been completed by the beginning of the school year, but weather and communication missteps caused the project to stretch into the beginning of the school year, said Kruger.

Walking through the building, Kruger pointed out that light switches are now keyed in order to come into compliance with the state fire marshal. New entry doors with an automated handicapped open, have been installed at the south commons entrance. New carpet has been installed in the music and 4th-6th grade Social Studies classrooms and new windows have been installed along the south and east wall of the gymnasium.

Work on the greenhouse, bus barn driveway and brick tuckpointing will begin after the playground is completed, said Kruger.

Prior to the tour, patron Nicole Chamness spoke of the disappointment she and others have concerning the lack of progress on the playground project.

Chamness asked the board to consider requesting compensation for additional custodial hours needed to clean up after tracked in dirt. Also, she relayed the disappointment of the children who are limited to recess in the gym or for their time spent walking to the city park.

Kruger noted that while the district and the contractor believed the project was to be done by Aug. 14, the surfacing company only became aware of the contract on Aug. 14. If the weather cooperates, the safe surface will be installed by the first of September, he said.

Noting the dirt and mud, Sherwood explained that seeding could not be done prior to concrete work and following that was the heat of the summer. While the district had planned to seed the open ground, Board President Patterson suggested that patches between play areas be sodded in order to allow students access to the playground sooner.

Matt Vagts, the new Title I reading instructor, PE teacher and Interventionist was introduced to the board. Vagt is a native of West Union, Iowa and a 2016 graduate of Upper Iowa University.

“Not many PE teachers have a reading endorsement,” noted Kruger. “Matt wears many hats and we are glad to have him at NEH”.

The board renewed and approved an interfund loan from the General Fund to the Food Service Fund for the amount of $20,000 and $10,000. The renewal was for the loan secured last year that was not repaid.

When asked by Patterson if unpaid lunch accounts are responsible for the shortfall, Kruger said that the district does not have enough assisted student meals to qualify for reimbursements. Sherwood told the board that statewide, many lunch programs are operating with a negative balance because insurance and retirement accounts are charged against Food Service balances. It is believed that the state’s Home Rule legislation will help districts catch up to future liabilities.

In a related matter, a clerical error resulted in the need to raise student lunch prices from $2.80 to $2.85, said Kruger. The board approved the increase.

Kruger told the board that the unofficial enrollment for 2017-2018 is 111 students. With NEH middle and high school students at Webster City with grade sharing, the enrollment is estimated at 190.

Sherwood reported that a bus is in need of repair at an estimated cost between $6,000-$8,000. With 111,000 miles on it, he recommended the district can repair the bus in order to get at least three more years use from it. Costs will be paid from the PPEL fund.

The board approved membership in the Rabiner Consortium at a cost of $3,000 for membership and $20,000 for student services. The payment comes from the General Fund but if the district has an attending child in Special Education, the cost could be drawn from that account, said Sherwood. Also, if the district does not send any child to the consortium, the $20,000 is refunded to the district.

Rabiner is a treatment facility west of Fort Dodge and provides programs for struggling students. It now serves both boys and girls in grades 4-12.

“I would love to say we are never going to need their services,” said Sherwood, “But if we need it, we will have it”.

The board approved an outgoing Open Enrollment request for a pre-Kindergarten student who met the deadline requirements.

The board approved the designation of Kathy Biere as Board Secretary. Designated as financial depositories were Iowa State Joint Investment Trust with $1 million in deposits and Iowa Falls State Bank with $3 million in deposits. Danielle Jess Haindfield of the law firm Ahlers and Cooney of Des Moines was designated as the board’s legal counsel.

The informal joint board meetings of NEH, Stratford and Webster City school boards will be held on Oct. 9, 2017, Jan. 17, 2018 and April 19, 2018.

The meeting adjourned at 7:39 p.m.

The next meeting is scheduled for September 21 at 6 p.m. in the elementary school Media Center.