School to Replace Flooring & Windows, Possible Scoreboard Replacement

At the February meeting of the Whitehall School Board, held Tuesday, February 1st in the elementary library, the discussion was focused on updates and replacements being made throughout the school this summer.

Dennehy Flooring has been awarded the contract to remove the elementary and middle school’s current flooring and replace it with a new, germicidal component flooring.

Superintendent Hannah Nieskens explained that while this type of flooring is not normally used in schools, it is regularly used within hospitals and nursing homes and comes with a twenty-year commercial warranty.

“In 20 years I think we all hope we will be building a new elementary school,” Nieskens said, adding that she’s hoping this flooring will last the life of the school until then. The installation will begin around June 13 and take 6-8 weeks. In the case of delays, Nieskens said she would not allow remodeling of the floors to happen once school starts, so if need be, they would store the flooring until next summer to install.

Also up for repair are the elementary and middle school’s 190+ windows, a contract that has been awarded to A&R Construction from Great Falls. The new fiberglass windows will be installed first in classrooms, then offices, with unoccupied spaces and hallways installed last. If delays occur, the staff is asked by Nieskens to “roll with the punches” and she assured that, at most, a day out of a classroom would be the maximum impact. Nieskens also said that no asbestos was found in any of the windows that are being replaced, which would have caused delays for removal had any been found. Installation is slated for July 15 and should take 6-8 weeks as well.

Elementary Principal and Athletic Director Kurtis Koenig announced that the MHSA proposal of shot clocks being installed by the 22-23 basketball season was approved by a narrow margin during the MHSA annual meeting. However, Koenig explained to the Board that the school’s current scoreboard system may not be conducive to new shot clocks setups, as the scoreboards are at least 15 years old, if not older.

Koenig presented a good/better/best proposal of completely new scoreboards, which include shot clocks, in order to comply with the MHSA ruling. The “good” option would cost a total of $18,500, with a “better” option at $23,000, and a “best” option quoting in at $28,500.

Nieskens noted that the scoreboards have been shorting out several times throughout the season and that the user interface needs to be replaced sooner than later.

The Board agreed to continue looking into scoreboard replacement options, with the possibility of utilizing interlocal funds and Golden Sunlight Mine school monies, as well as teaming with the Whitehall Booster Club, to get the boards purchased.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Whitehall principals announced enrollment at elementary as 202, middle school at 127, and high school at 126.

• Two teacher vacancies have been announced and will be advertised for in the near future. Luke Forney has resigned from his position as high school English teacher; Kim McLean is retiring from teaching, which leaves the second-grade teaching position available.

• ASVAB testing will be held on February 15 and is available to juniors and seniors.

• Mandatory testing was done on the 39 fixtures within the elementary/middle school where water could be consumed. Nieskens said that she was initially a little nervous about what would be found, as the school was built in the 1950s. However, all tests came back clear with no areas of concern.

• RH Fence will replace the chain-link fence by the playground, which was damaged several years ago when a vehicle drove through it.

• Koenig added that the MHSA has sanctioned baseball as a recognized school sport for the 2022-2023 season.

• Koenig also noted that the 8th-grade rule (where coaches may move 8th-grade players up to high school level play) was also narrowly approved by MHSA for all sports except football. MHSA said that details for how this will affect the 2022-2023 seasons are forthcoming.