Removal of School District Equipment [Portable Classrooms]

Hello everyone,

On Thursday, April 27, 2023 the AHSTW Board of Education met to discuss the removal of the two portable buildings on the west side of AHSTW Community Schools.  After receiving interest but no agreement to purchase the two structures, the AHSTW Board of Education decided to remove the obsolete structures from the property.  Feedlot Service Company will remove the structures prior to the beginning of our 2023 Addition and Renovation Project.

 

Respectfully,

 

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

AHSTW Community School District

Update: April 6, 2023 - Return to Regular Locations

Hello, 

 

I am pleased to announce that all classrooms impacted by our mechanical fire and smoke damage are ready for our return.  All classrooms and students will return to their normal locations on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

 

We appreciate your understanding and assistance over the past week and a half.  Your efforts helped minimize disruptions to our students learning opportunities!

 

I also want to thank our staff effectively created normalcy in an adverse situation!  Thank you and Great Job!

 

Respectfully,

 

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

AHSTW Community School District

Update April 5, 2023: AHSTW Community School District 2023 Renovation and Addition Project

Hello everyone,

 

AHSTW Community School District is excited to announce that our 2023 Building and Renovation project is set to begin as bids have been accepted and contracts are being signed.  The project has taken us time to finalize, but we are extremely excited to begin moving forward this spring.

 

The initial design estimated our project cost to be $12,900,000.00.  This cost was brought to our communities through a referendum vote in the fall of 2021.  We were extremely thankful the support as the referendum passed allowing us to engage in and finalize the full design process.

 

The process allowed us the opportunity to add five new classrooms on the west side of our high school facility to help us relocate our Industrial Technology, Family and Consumer Science, Agriculture, Business Education, and High School Music and Band classrooms.  The new construction also allows for the renovation of the interior sections of the high school creating five new classroom spaces along with office space for our high school and intermediate guidance counselors, as well as our instructional coaches from our teacher leadership program.

 

In addition to the above projects, AHSTW Community School District will install LED lighting throughout our facility creating a cleaner more efficient light.  This includes our elementary and middle school sections of the  building.  Substantial renovations to our facility will also require us to upgrade our fire safety system and we will do so by installing a fire suppression system across the PK-12 facility.

 

As the design process concluded in January, we requested bids for project.  We understood material costs had increased since the inception of the project and we anticipated a potential increase in overall costs.  The anticipated increases were realized after bid submission.  At that time, we evaluated our options moving forward and decided to reject bids associated with portions of the project and to rebid those sections with the electrical portion of the project, as no bids were received for electrical services.

 

Our second bidding session, in January and February, provided us time to review various funding mechanisms in the event costs remained over the $12,900,000.00 referendum.  In late February, the process concluded and we were able to realize a cost savings of nearly $750,000.00 from the first bidding process, but the total project remained over the original amount with the project now costing a little more than $16,000,000.00.

 

Due to our solid financial standing, AHSTW Community School District is able to support our project at the new amount and will do so with the support of Physical Plant and Equipment Levy [PPEL].  Please know the use of the PPEL funds will not impact our tax rate at all, as the levy amount of $1.00 / thousand dollars of taxable valuation is already in place after the Voter Approved PPEL election during the 2020-2021 school year.

 

In the end, I am excited to share that the construction portion of the project is beginning and you will see physical signs soon!  

 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have on our building project and get ready for updates!

 

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

AHSTW Community School District

Update: Saturday, April 1, 2023

 Update:  April 1, 2023

Well, the last week has been interesting to say the least.  After Tuesday night’s fire in one of our air exchange units there has been a lot happening at school and I hope the following sequence of events helps you understand our current reality and plan to move forward.

Tuesday, March 28: 

• An ERV unit started on fire causing extensive smoke damage in sections of our Early Childhood pod.
• We want to thank everyone who assisted in minimizing the event and limiting any damages to only smoke.  We are fortunate that no structural or water damage occurred to our facility.

Wednesday, March 29:

• ServiceMaster arrived on scene around 12:45 AM on Wednesday morning.  Air mitigation units were brought in to begin cleaning the air and reducing the smell of smoke in the Early Childhood section of our building.
• AHSTW cancelled school on Wednesday to begin understanding the situation and to provide access to any groups assisting in clean up or review.
• We also needed time to determine how we might be able to plan for upcoming days.
• It was determined that we would be able to hold school in all sections of our building other than the early childhood pod.  
• We also determined that an extended amount of cleaning would be needed in the impacted area and AHSTW staff would not have access to their area and classrooms on Wednesday.
• This realization led us to cancel school on Thursday and Friday for grades PK, TK, and Kindergarten.
• We also determined that the amount of cleaning needed for a safe return to the building would require us to find alternate locations for learning in the future.
• Kindergarten will be held in the AEA Building near Casey’s.
• TK and PK will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Avoca.

Thursday, March 30 & Friday, March 31:

• Cancelling school allowed AHSTW staff members to meet with representatives from ServiceMaster and our insurance company to better understand the amount of cleaning needed before a return is allowed.
• Findings:
• Ceiling tiles were removed from the most impacted classrooms. 
• It was later determined that all ceiling tiles would need to be removed from the early childhood pod. [This was completed on Saturday morning.]
• Our building has ductwork wrapped in insulation and it was determined that the insulation would need to be removed and ductwork rewrapped. [This will be in the upcoming week.]
• Classroom items would need to be discarded in highly impacted areas and then also from other classrooms in the area to an extent.
• Paper [Student journals, classroom books, wall charts that students would be able to touch, and even laminated papers that may hold and odor overtime needed to be evaluated and potentially discarded.]
• Small toys such as Legos, math manipulative, etc… were also removed from classrooms.
• Other items were recommended to be discarded based on the ability to be fully mitigated for smell or due the fact that debris from the smoke may not be able to be completed removed.
• Crayons, markers, pencils were also discarded.
• It is also recommended that student water bottles and headphones were are to be removed.  
• Contact with families will be made and each family will be able to come pick personal items up to discard at home or clean reuse based on personal choice.
• Thursday and Friday were difficult days for our EC staff, as many items that had been created or personally purchased, over what I am sure is over 200 years of teaching experience, were thrown away.  I cannot express how hard this was!
• Inventories of items to be thrown away were required to assist in knowing our total loss and what purchases will be needed in the future.
• On Friday, staff members also began to look at our alternate areas in attempt to begin making it home to our students while it is necessary to be away.

Saturday, April 1 and future:

With all of that said, there is still work to do!  

• ServiceMaster will continue to clean classrooms.  This includes washing walls, carpets, and ceiling grids.
• Our ductwork will be cleaned over the weekend.
• The air quality of the impacted areas will be checked to help us determine when a safe return is allowed.
• The insulation on wrapped ductwork will be removed and replaced.

We hope this work will be completed in an efficient manner allowing for a return to classrooms, as soon as possible.

I end today by expressing my gratitude for our EC staff who are working diligently for a return to school through a tremendous amount of adversity.  They are doing a wonderful job!

Respectfully,

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

AHSTW Community School District