AHSTW Activities & Ticket Costs

 Hello everyone,

 

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer before things are back in motion next month!  

 

This year AHSTW Community School District along with all Western Iowa Conference Schools will be increasing ticket prices for the 2023-2024 school year to $7.00 per event for attendees school-age through adult.  This is a necessary change due to increasing costs associated with hosting extra-curricular activities.

 

To assist in your understanding as to how districts support activities, I share the following three pronged approach:

·      AHSTW CSD’s General Fund:  This fund is used to pay coaches’ salaries, transportation costs to and from events, repairs and general upkeep to gym floors, fields, facilities, field paint, chalk, etc.…

·      Activities Fund:  The activities fund is funded by admission fees, team fundraising, and donations.  The purpose of this account is to:

o   Pay for all official fees for Varsity, JV, and JH events. 

§  [We do not collect admission at any event at the JV and JH levels when separate from varsity competitions.]

 

Referee/Umpire/Judge Costs Associated with Hosting Varsity Level Competitions: [Per event]
Varsity Football	$700	Track	$175
Varsity and JV Volleyball	$240	Varsity B/G Soccer	$400 + mileage
Cross Country  ·      [No Gate Fee]	$150	Varsity and JV Baseball	$320
Varsity Basketball	$420	Varsity and JV Softball	$280
Varsity Wrestling Quad	$300
·      Similar Costs are associated with each JH or JV Activity although at a slightly lower amount.

 

o   Pay for all team entry fees for tournaments and meets

o   Pay for the base package for HUDL and Track Wrestling, which are services required by the State High School Associations to share film and scouting materials for specific high school sponsored sports.

o   Pay for equipment needs including balls, training equipment, uniforms and supplies, etc.

·      AHSTW Booster Club:  We are very thankful for our booster club and all they do as they help tremendously in providing some basic needs of our sports teams [Ex. Uniforms, balls, and more], but also enhancements to our activities, as well.  

 

With that said, due to the increase in associated costs and fees, it is necessary for AHSTW CSD and other WIC schools to raise the price of admission beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.  With the increase in ticketing costs, AHSTW will also increase the cost of student, adult, and family passes, which are demonstrated on page three.

 

Online Ticketing – Bound

 

In addition to increasing the cost of admission AHSTW CSD and all Western Iowa Conference schools will begin the transition to cashless payment for admission to games, much like what we have been doing for postseason tournaments the past few years.  Spectators will have a few different options to purchase event tickets. 

o   Tickets can be purchased in advance using a link on the school’s Bound site: www.gobound.com/ia/schools/ahstw/tickets

o   You may need to use your email address to log into the site where you can download a QR code to your phone or print the ticket with the QR code to be scanned at the admission site. 

o   You can also use a debit/credit card at the event site to purchase a ticket. 

o   Jr. High events in the Western Iowa Conference will remain to be free. When our teams travel to play other schools outside of our conference, they may have different payment methods and admission prices and we will try to keep you informed of other payment situations. 

o   AHSTW will still offer the sale of activity passes which will work at AHSTW home events.  The price of event passes are included in this letter, but you will also be able to view pricing on our school website or by contacting the school.

Bound Activity Calendars:

 

Starting in August, AHSTW CSD will also transition to using Bound as our activities information hub. You can find our school’s page using the link  https://www.gobound.com/ia/schools/ahstw. It is on this site you will be able to see upcoming games and activities, access our activities calendar, purchase tickets to school events, and use various other tools as we start to implement those items. Bound also has an app that can be downloaded on your phone.

 

 

AHSTW CSD & Western Iowa Conference

 

2023-2024 Admission Prices

All varsity events including District Football: 

Adults &  Students - $7.00

All tickets will be digital. Tickets can be purchased in advance through Bound or purchased at the gate with a card.

 

https://www.gobound.com/ia/schools/ahstw/tickets

 

AHSTW Community School District Activity Passes 2023- 2024

 

Student Activity Pass [A $50 pass pays for itself after attending 7.1 events.]	$50	Good for all home regular season events for specified student
Adult Activity Pass [A $100 pass  pays for itself after attending 14.3 events.]	$100	Good for all home regular season events for specified adult
Family Activity Pass [A family pass pays for itself after a family of 4 attends 42.8 events or 10.7 events per person.]	$300	Good for all home regular season events for immediate family under 18 in one household
** AHSTW hosts roughly 50 home events per year. ** The cost of a family pass is based on a family of 4.  [A family of 4 could pay for roughly 200 gate fees, if all events were attended.] ** AHSTW extra-curricular passes are not valid for postseason activities.

 

 

 

 

Respectfully,

 

 

 

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

AHSTW Community School District

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

Update: March 29, 2023

 Update:  March 29, 2023

Progress has been made in our return from our most recent disruption in learning, but I do need to share that our Pre-school, Transitional Kindergarten, and Kindergarten classrooms will not be ready for class this week.  We are currently making plans to provide classes beginning on Monday, April 3, 2023 for students in these grades.  The delay is due to the fact that our EC staff members do not have access to their rooms at this time.  This means they are not able to gather materials for instruction or gather student supplies.  However, we will gain access over the next two days making a Monday return possible.

With that said, AHSTW Community School District will be in session on Thursday, March 30 and Friday, March 31 for students in grades 1 – 12 on our regular schedule, with classes resuming for our early childhood classrooms on Monday, April 3, 2023 at alternate locations.  

A detailed plan discussing our EC classrooms locations and schedules will be shared by Mrs. Kock tomorrow or Friday.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

AHSTW Community School District 

***Information regarding updates will also be posted at:  https://darinjones-updates.blogspot.com/ ***

Update: Events of March 28, 2023

 Hello,

On Tuesday evening around 9:00 PM, I received a phone call indicating our fire alarm system was sounding and that staff members saw smoke in the PK-TK-K pod.  This led to fire units being dispatched from both Avoca and Walnut.

Once on scene it was determined that a rooftop air handling unit appeared to have overheated and ignited filters in the unit causing smoke to move through our early childhood pod.  The smoke also left a small amount of soot on tables, chairs, and other classroom items in multiple classrooms.  

ServiceMaster arrived late Tuesday evening or early morning Wednesday to assess our facility and determine the necessary actions needed to appropriately clean and improve the overall air quality of the elementary section of our building.  Although cleaning has begun, it will not be finished in time for school.  At this time, we will cancel classes on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 to allow ServiceMaster the opportunity to complete a deep clean of classrooms and air ducts for a safe return.  

All after school activities for March 29, 2023 will be able to continue as scheduled.

The positive in this event is that there is no structural or water damage to our facility, classroom furniture, and materials in classrooms.  We are thankful for that and all of those who assisted us.

I do anticipate returning to school on Thursday, March 30, 2023 on a regular schedule, but I will share an update later Wednesday afternoon to confirm our Thursday schedule.

Respectfully,

Mr. Darin Jones