Projects around school district running smoothly, on schedule

Published 3:34 am Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Austin Public Schools are not sitting idle despite being in the midst of summer.

Wireless Internet connectivity throughout every school, construction on a new grades 5 and 6 school and new tennis courts are all becoming a reality. Finance and Operations Director Mark Stotts said Monday night at the board meeting that concrete has been poured, walls are going up, and one wall, as of Monday, was nearly complete.

“It’s early in the project,” Stotts said, “but we are on schedule.”

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New tennis courts at Neveln elementary will be ready when practice begins Aug. 17, which is timely, as the Pacelli Catholic Schools’ girls tennis team will join Austin High School’s. The board unanimously approved the move Monday.

Wireless Internet connectivity at several schools is nearly complete, as workers are configuring and troubleshooting through Aug. 24, when systems will go live at all of Austin Public Schools. Installation on wireless systems began in May, said Superintendent David Krenz, and the switch to wireless was funded by the most recent bond referendum. Progress at Sumner, Banfield, Neveln and Ellis is “99 percent complete.” Sumner is set to open its second year of year-round schooling on July 31. Austin High School’s connectivity is 86 percent complete, and both Woodson and Southgate are 10 percent complete. Furthermore, heating, ventilation and air conditioning work at Woodson and Southgate are on schedule.

Other business

—The Austin Public Schools board agreed to set Dec. 10 as its date for the truth in taxation meeting. The meeting will be held with the board’s regular meeting after 6 p.m.

—The board also approved bids for its dairy contract with Kemps of Rochester and its bakery contract with Earthgrains. The dairy contract reduced in price by 2 percent, and the bakery contract reduced by 5.5 percent as new federal regulations don’t require schools to carry as many grains.