Board reviews progress of construction

The Dickinson Public School Board reviewed the construction progress at its various schools during Monday night’s meeting.

The Southwest Community High School moved from the T-Rex Mall to a recently purchased building on Third Avenue West that was formerly The Movie Gallery.

“The cost of redoing the interior of that building was $14,275,” said Vince Reep, assistant superintendent of Dickinson Public Schools.

The building was purchased for $430,000 and the school board approved the purchase on June 22, according to a previous Press article. DPS closed on the purchase of the property on July 28.

“They will be done repainting the walls on Friday, and we are having a sign made,” Reep said. “The whole project should be ready to go when school starts.”

Reep added that the new sign being made for the building will signify that it houses a school.

Also, construction at Lincoln Elementary is moving forward. The south and east wall brickwork is done and contractors are working on the scaffolding.

“The kitchen floor is in, and the appliances are in, but the stainless steel in the dishwashing area is yet to be complete,” said Reep. “There is a bit of a holdup in that part of the construction.”

Reep added that air conditioning is being added to the storage and kitchen areas.

Jefferson Elementary, on the other hand, is running behind schedule.

“I think they will catch up over the winter,” Reep said. “Everything, including hanging the blinds, will be done by February.”

Other summer maintenance work at surrounding schools is 80 percent complete. The work includes repairing concrete cracks, redoing the asphalt in parking lots, bathroom maintenance, adding air conditioners and refinishing gyms.

Leslie Ross, a DPS school board member, posed a question after the construction reports: “What special plans do we have so that the kids will be unaffected and safe during the construction?”

No one on the board had an answer, so members decided they will discuss the safety measures with the construction company at the bi-weekly meeting on Wednesday.

Also discussed at the meeting was teacher turnover.

There are 18 new teachers, four transfer/reassignments, 13 certified resignations and 23 classified resignations/terminations.

Lastly, a possible gymnastics cooperative agreement with Richardton-Taylor Public School District was discussed and the motion was approved.

“There is a young lady in the seventh grade at Richardton-Taylor who wants to compete in gymnastics and since Richardton-Taylor does not have a gymnastics program, she would like to compete with the DHS team,” said Ron Dockter, Dickinson High School principal.

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