MITCHELL — As the new Mitchell High School building is under construction on Capital Street, Mitchell School Board members are concerned about its facilities and construction.
This will continue to be the case when the board meets on Monday, Oct. 28, for a special conference work session to discuss and consider the future infrastructure needs of the Mitchell School District. The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Room 10 of the Mitchell Career and Technical Education Academy.
Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Childs said, “We’re going to be talking about strategies for capital expenditure projects that we want to accomplish in the future and how we’re going to move forward with them.” “(It’s) a plan that outlines our priorities for the future and the distant future.”
The meetings will primarily focus on the district’s K-12 facilities. The current Mitchell High School building was built in 1962 and is the oldest building currently in use by the school district. Once the transition to the new high school is complete, Mitchell Middle School, built in 1969, will be the district’s oldest learning center. , logged in at age 55. Other K-12 buildings in the district include Longfellow Elementary School, LB Williams Elementary School, and Gertie Bell Rogers Elementary School.
As buildings age, it’s important to have a plan in place for general maintenance and potential replacements if the need arises, Childs said. Also, outlining the process for making such decisions would be helpful to the board as well as patrons of the district.
“Not only is it important to do it now, but it is also important to understand how decisions are being made. This is important for the entire community to understand, not just the school board.” It’s important to understand why one project is prioritized over another and how the district makes that decision to do certain things,” Childs said.
Childs said he will provide the board with a summary of some of the highlights and background of the district’s buildings. This includes the current condition of the facility and the types of projects the district may need to consider in the future. Wade Pogany of Dakota Educational Consulting will attend the meeting and help lead the discussion.
Wade Pogany of Dakota Educational Consulting is scheduled to participate in the Mitchell School Board work session meeting on Monday, October 28th.
Eric Kaufman / Mitchell Republic
The special meeting will have a similar format to the one held last September, when the board met to discuss future district goals. Discussions that arose at that meeting included topics such as the potential addition of a preschool program to the district, increasing student attendance and improving teacher pay. Mr. Pogany also helped facilitate the discussion at that meeting.
Childs said the meeting should be informative for anyone interested in the district’s facilities. Better facilities mean a better learning environment for students, and district leaders hope that continues into the future.
“It’s important for the board and all taxpayers to know what the district is thinking from a preventive maintenance standpoint and making sure that the buildings we have are taken care of to last well into the future. I think it’s important to understand,” Childs said. Said. “This is not just a meeting to say, “We need to rebuild this in X years, or we need to do this. It’s primarily about moving things forward and providing a safe, clean environment for our children.” These are the things we need to do now to prevent shortages later.”
There are no action items on the meeting agenda, so the board does not vote on or take any action on the topics presented at the meeting.
Mitchell Republic will livestream the meeting on its website.
Eric Kaufman joined The Mitchell Republic in July 2019 as an education and features reporter. He grew up in Freeman, South Dakota and graduated from Freeman High School. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1999 with a major in English and a minor in Computer Science. He can be reached at ekaufman@mitchellrepublic.com.
