Encouraged by the early success of the Regional Rural Technology Center in LaHarpe, Superintendent of Schools Stacey Fager is working to bring a wind energy technology program to the students of USD 257. The program, which is currently in its exploratory phase, would be the first of its kind in the region.
Having recently visited the well-regarded wind energy program at Cloud County Community College and having spoken with representatives from area wind energy companies, Fager described for the board an industry that is in desperate need of specially trained workers, and a hiring environment marked by “guaranteed demand.” And the opportunities for qualified graduates, said Fager, only continue to grow.
Kansas currently ranks second in the nation (behind Texas) in wind energy potential but fifteenth or worse when it comes to wind technology. But companies in the state are swiftly working to narrow that gap. And as they do, Fager stressed, their need for qualified workers will increase. These are high-paying jobs with a large potential for growth. A high school student graduating from a wind technology program on the order being discussed by USD 257 would have a huge leg up in the labor market.
But the program won’t build itself for free. Fager assumes it will take somewhere around $100,000 to outfit the tech center with the relevant hardware and to absorb the costs that attach to the launch of any new program.
The superintendent has already been in talks with wind industry executives — who stand to benefit hugely from a local training lab — about helping to fund the creation of a program in southeast Kansas. The anecdotal responses so far have been favorable. If there is enough support for the program, monetary and otherwise, the district could see the launch of a wind energy program as soon as next year. Fager, who recently invited a wind energy expert to Iola to discuss the ins and outs of the industry with students, has already detected a significant interest among the student body.
“I think this is a really, really tremendous opportunity,” said board member Tony Leavitt. Most others on the board seemed to agree.
READYING themselves and the community for a potential bond issue, which would address longstanding infrastructure concerns at the various Iola schools, the district has been in talks with the Wichita-based firm of Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture. Fager announced on Monday that SJCF had returned a proposal asking for $14,500 for use of their “pre-bond services.” Meaning, in this case, that representatives from SJCF would: work closely with the school board to fine tune a master plan; work with community groups in the area to build consensus and encourage voter turnout; and help disseminate accurate information about any potential construction project and its cost. “Basically,” explained Fager, “their role is to help direct a successful bond campaign.”
The board will vote on whether to engage the firm’s services at their next meeting.
MONDAY’S USD 257 Board of Education meeting was a tale of two halves.
Discharging their duties as trustees of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center during the first hour, school board members received their annual update on the many moving parts that comprise the arts and cultural center. Trustees heard from the Bowlus Commision, from the Friends of the Bowlus, as well as from the Bowlus’s top staff.
Excitement in some quarters continues to mount as construction work on the Bowlus Fine Arts Plaza — the dramatic overhaul being engineered on the east side of the 50-year old building — continues apace. Mike Hofer, of the general contracting firm of Hofer & Hofer & Associates, projected optimism regarding the work so far, except to note that the project is about a month behind schedule based on an unforeseen building contingency having to do with late-addition columns added into the mix by the structural engineer. The good news, however, is that the project is running under budget and will still likely reach completion by December.
Facility manager and technical director Jeff Jordan briefed the board on the many improvements the Bowlus has made to its infrastructure in the previous year (e.g., enlargement of the west-side entrance ramp, a new portable sound system, and others still) as well as the handful of building projects still outstanding (e.g., replacing the tile flooring in the lower-level restrooms, replacing the faucets and flushers throughout the building, among others).
Assistant projects director and finance head Traci Plumlee gave a thorough précis of the Bowlus’s 2017-2018 performance schedule, reminding the board that the center’s mission, apart from nourishing the larger community with a diet high in arts and culture, is to involve as many of the district’s students in the fun and enriching and educative programs on offer at the Bowlus year-round.
The final program highlighted in Plumlee’s presentation was the longstanding Buster Keaton Celebration, which commences its 24th season this Friday (with a highly anticipated Thursday screening of a movie, filmed in Kansas, about the murderous Bender family). Although the Keaton Celebration is in its final year, announced Bowlus director Susan Raines, “we do have plans for something to replace it.” What that something is, she didn’t say.
After briefing trustees on the Bowlus’s investment portfolio performance for fiscal year 2017 and recommending the wisest choice of equities trustees might select for the near-future, Jay Kretzmeier and Jim Gilpin of the Bowlus Investment Committee suggested that the trustees select an investment management firm to take over for the current volunteer management committee by mid-summer of 2018.
In February, the USD 257 Board of Education filed a petition asking the court to examine the details of its obligations to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center as they were originally described 55 years ago in the will and charitable trust of Thomas H. Bowlus. The court has yet to return its interpretation. Word is, a rendering is coming next month.
