01-04-2025
Career Impact Academy on track for May 1 completion date
Mar. 31—GRAND FORKS — The Career Impact Academy is on track for a substantial completion date of May 1.
The Grand Forks Public Schools Facilities Committee heard the construction update following the regular School Board meeting Monday evening. In the report, district officials noted that the project progressed much more quickly than expected and no delays are anticipated.
"We have a plan to absolutely get this building completed on time and ready for students for the fall," district business manager Brandon Baumbach told the committee.
Furniture for the academy is expected to arrive in July, and a ribbon-cutting and open house is tentatively scheduled for August.
The project is expected to come in at just under $31 million and was funded primarily through the district's building fund.
The building fund is being used now to drive forward an air handling unit project at Kelly Elementary School ($88,135) and the Central High School pool recommissioning project ($181,075), but after the completion of those projects and the academy, the fund will be given a bit of a breather, Baumbach said.
The Facilities Committee will discuss long-term projects and other priorities at its upcoming meeting on April 16.
The committee also received an update on the new Valley Middle School, which is now roughly halfway through construction and has a projected substantial completion date of December 2025. The $55 million project is now 8.72% under budget, although the numbers aren't yet final.
The project is making good time, district Building and Grounds Director Jonathan Ellwein reported, but a bathroom bill currently being considered by the Legislature could
set the project back significantly
if passed. As the proposed policy is written now, Valley's bathroom designs — separated by gender but with a common hand-washing area — would likely be deemed noncompliant.
The district is seeking clarification on whether the in-construction bathrooms would qualify as existing facilities under the proposal.
"That is the one thing that could derail the finances on this project, but I think even getting some clarity on some of the language in the bill would help," Ellwein said Monday.
Other updates heard by the committee Monday include the new Central High School kitchen, which achieved substantial completion last month and cost $5.136 million, coming in nearly 15% under budget, and a number of safety and security upgrades districtwide, which are now 2.25% over budget and with few exceptions are expected to be completed by the beginning of next school year.
In other news,
* School Board members approved a guaranteed maximum price for safety and security enhancements at Kelly Elementary School. The board approved a GMP of of $727,905 with a total project cost of $862,567.
* The board's finance committee also recommended the board sign off on allocating Building Fund dollars to replace Lewis and Clark Elementary's broken intercom system, which is obsolete. The project is expected to cost $36,994, including a 10% contingency. Board members approved the funds.
* Board members heard a financial update from Baumbach. Between July 1, 2024, and Feb. 28, the district's revenues are $84.5 million and expenditures are $72 million, "right where we'd expect us to be in the year," Baumbach said. Other expenses are also down 52%. The board voted to accept the general financial report.
* The board voted to adopt a slate of policies without changes since the last reading. Among the amended policies is new guidance that School Board members do not have authority to resolve complaints about unlawful harassment or discrimination, and guidance that the board "will not hear, consider, or act upon personnel complaints and must remain neutral and uninvolved in the investigation process."
