Renovation of a mixed-use development in Bloomfield, Iowa. Completed plans call for the renovation of a stadium; and educational facility.

https://images.apollo.ai/articles/pdfs/2898551_39918_05-12-2021.pdf Wednesday, May 12, 2021 WEEKLY 1,523 42.12 column inches $336.96 School board agrees to hire gifted and talented instructor The Davis County School Board voted late last month to hire a full time gifted and talented instructor for the district. The approval came fol-lowing a recommendation by Superintendent Dan Maeder at the board's April meeting. Maeder told the board that districts across the nation re-ceive federal funding to provide specifically for gifted and tal-ented students. He explained that the allocation of funding is determined by the district's budget enrollment. Funding for the program is paid based on a 75-25 percentage with 25 per-cent coming from local district funds. "Because this is categorical, funds can only be used for this purpose," said Maeder of the gifted and talented program. Maeder provided information to the board that shows the district's annual allocation for this program is SI00,000. In the past the district has used the funds to pay salary and benefits for a single teacher, which used roughly 75 percent of the annu-al allocation. The remaining 25 percent of those annual funds has been building up over time in the gifted and talented fund. Board members learned there is roughly 5300,000 in that fund currently, which cannot be spent on anything except gifted and talented programming. Maeder told the board the district has been working on improving the quality of the programming for these stu-dents over the past few years. They have been identifying staff members at each level. Slander told the board that he believes the district can improve even more by hiring a lead teacher for the prowam. The proposal suggests this he a three-year focused effort that would consist of reviewing and analyzing the existing program; identifying best practices in gifted and talented program-ming across the state and na-tion and leading the district in efforts to develop a vision for the Davis County Gifted and Talented future programming. He told the board that the final step would be implementing the program. Maeder explained that the cost of the effort would be paid by the existing surplus of funds in the gifted and talented program. "Part of our plan is to determine how we can sustain this program within the annual gifted and talented funding lev-els," said Maeder. The board agreed that the district needed to move forward with the recommendation and approved a motion to hire an instructor for the three-year period so the program could be developed. The board also discussed the need For the district to offer a S1,500 sign-on bonus to help entice teachers to come work for the district in hard-to-fill po-sitions. Board members learned that administrators are facing unique hiring challenges com-pared to past years. To help with this problem, Maeder asked the board to con-sider a 51,500 sign-on bonus. Maeder said this would be a temporary incentive and said it would help the district compete with other school districts and be able to hire quality candi-dates to work for Davis County Schools. Maeder also asked the board to make it retroactive to the teachers that have already been hired this year. Board members learned from Curriculum Director Becky Zesiger that application num-bers for the district are down this year. Zesiger also said the extra sign-on bonus helps young teachers pay moving ex-penses and will help them with living expenses during the first few days on the job. "These teachers will come to work on Aug. 17 and don't get paid until Sept. 21)," she explained. "It's tough right now. We aren't getting applicants," said Maeder. Board members questioned the need for the program. Board member Joni Helton also expressed concerns because the sign-on bonus was not of-fered to current staff and that this was not a fair practice. In the end, the board approved the program on a 3-2 vote with Helton and Alan Bodkins vot-ing against the increase. Josh O'Dell, Sheryl Wright, Nancy Hougland, Dough Dixon and Rod Lynch voted in favor of it. The board approved the fiscal year 2021 budget, which calls Bloomfield Democrat Bloomfield, Iowa I 11 Date: Frequency: Circulation: Article Size: Ad Value: Page/Section: Wednesday, May 12, 2021 WEEKLY 1,523 42.12 column inches $336.96 for just a one-cent increase in the tax level. The board will be asking for 515.05 per 51,000 valuation this year compared to a tax rate of 515.04 a year ago. The budget will generate an ad-ditional 5170,000 in property fax revenue simply because property valuations have risen in the past year. The board also approved hir-ing three LEGO League coaches to help facilitate the school dis-trict's STEM Scale-UP grant for the First Lego League Explore program. This is an after-school enrichment program designed for elementary students The program will start in the fall of 2(121. The board approved the hiring of three coaches for the program so that the individu-als could participate in some summer training opportunities before the program starts next fall. The board approved contracts for Briley Dixon, elementary instructor; Lindsey Cole, high school science; David Milder, secondary assistant principal; Tess Inman, elementary in-structor, and Ryan VeenCamp, elementary instructor. The board also approved contracts for coaches, volunteer coaches and approved a list of classi-fied staff for the coming school year. The board approved pay increases for all certified and classified staff at 2.4 percent, which is the same pay increase agreed upon for all certified teaching staff for the coming school year. In other news, the board ap-proved the purchase of a dish-washer for the middle school kitchen at a cost of 532.489. The board approved 510,000 for a new sound system at the West Sports Complex and up to 520,000 to put surface material down in the batting cages to cover new concrete pads that were put down. The board approved a new Nadi camera system for the gymnasium and football field at a cost of S9,550. They approved the allocation of 58,950 to cover a bid from L & K Construction ro create an athlete recognition wall underneath the press box at Mustang Stadium. The board approved a hid of .530,500 to replace the driveway at the support services building. The board approved painting projects for the district. They approved the purchase of a new 77-passenger bus at a cost of 5101,000. The board also approved a request by Cardinal Community School District to join the South Central Conference. Page: 1 / 2 Page: 2 / 2 ___________ Bids rejected on Base Bid 3 per school board This project consists of three (3) base bids. Base bid 1 includes one (1) baseball scoreboard and one (1) softball scoreboard for the Davis County West Athletic Complex. Base bid 2 includes one (1) videoboard/scoreboard to replace the existing scoreboard at the football/track stadium along with two (2) football play clocks. Base bid 3 includes two (2) basketball/volleyball scoreboards to replace the existing ones currently located in the Middle School gymnasium. The work must commence January 25, 2021 and must be completed : Base bid 1: April 30, 2021. Base bid 2: May 14, 2021. Base bid 3: May 14, 2021 Each Bidder shall accompany the Bid with a Bid security, in a separate envelope, as security that the successful bidder will enter into a contract for the work bid upon and will furnish after the award of the contract corporate surety bond or bonds, acceptable to the Owner, for the faithful performance of the contract, in an amount equivalent to one hundred percent of the amount of the contract. The bidder's security shall be in an amount equivalent to 5% of the bid amount, and shall be in the form of a cashier's or certified check drawn on a bank in Iowa or a bank chartered under the laws of the United States of America, or a certified bank share draft drawn on a credit union in Iowa or chartered under the laws of the United States of America or a bid bond with corporate surety satisfactory to the Owner. The bid security will be held by the Owner until a contract is fully executed and bonds are approved by the Owner. All Bidders are required to provide a statement regarding their residency status as required by 875 Iowa Administrative Code Chapter 156. Contractors using "materials, supplies, and equipment" on projects in designated "exempt entities" may purchase these items without liability for the sales tax. The contractor must have a purchasing agent authorization letter and an exemption certificate from the public entity to present to the retailer, which specifies the construction project and will be available for that project only. Owner will issue an authorization letter and an exemption certificate to the contractor and/or subcontractors for the purchase or use of building materials, supplies, and equipment to be used on this project only. DO NOT include sales tax on your bid form. No bid may be withdrawn for a period of 60 days after the date of the scheduled closing time for the receipt of bids. Out of state bidders shall be prepared to submit an Out-of-State Contractor Bond to the Iowa Division of Labor in accordance with Chapter 91C of the Code of Iowa. It is the intent of the Owner to award a contract to the lowest responsible, responsive bidder provided the bid has been submitted in accordance with the bidding requirements. The Owner reserves the right to waive informalities or irregularities. The Owner reserves the right to reject any or all bids.