School district to reconvene facility advisory committee to further examine district needs, possibilities
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
The Elkhorn Area School District Board of Education agreed Monday night in reconvening the Facility Advisory Committee to further evaluate district needs.
District Administrator Jason Tadlock said Monday night with question 2 on this past spring’s referendum failing by a very small margin and debt from the previous addition to Elkhorn Area High School, it might be a good time to bring the committee back together to revisit the needs and ideas for further consideration.
Taking this into consideration, Tadlock said he think this would be a good timeframe to begin working on that and looking at reconsidering the scope of items that did not pass during the referendum.
Tadlock said it the district were to reconvene the committee he would like for them to re-examine the items in question 2 as well as future projects of the City of Elkhorn, such as the Market Street Expansion project which could provide the school district additional green space, and long range financial stability of the district.
Tadlock said if the school board were to work with the committee toward another referendum, something that has not been discussed nor approved, but only noted as an example, the district would be aiming for the November 2016 general election to have any potential borrowing coincide with the levy drop.
Vice-President Barb Fischer said she thinks reconvening the committee would be a good way to get the community involved, something which she thinks has helped the district in the past.
Leibsle agreed, noting it’s a good place for the district to start.
“Reconvening that committee is a good beginning, and whether we go forward or not I think that’s where we start,” she said.
Tadlock clarified having the committee work on potential solutions to present to the board does not commit the school board to anything and the committee would serve solely as advisory.
Board Member David Stebnitz said he also thinks as they go through the building projects they’re working on now, they’re finding other projects they didn’t include in the referendum that maybe should have been included. Tadlock agreed, noting it could be an opportunity to address some other minor safety issues, such as the high school gymnasium, which becomes unsafe to utilize on some hot and humid days and is shut down because of slipping hazards.
Board members agreed reconvening the committee would be a good idea, picking back up where it left off with all former members willing to participate again.
