Glasgow schools board members discuss ticket prices, approval of a city lease, tour new SGE

Board members listen and discusses as Superintendent Chap Muhlenkamp explains each agenda item. Michael Crimmins/Glasgow News 1

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

The Glasgow Independent Schools Board of Education members met in a special called meeting on Aug. 10 to discuss and approve changes to sporting event admissions, a lease made between the district and the city of Glasgow, and the board members were given a tour of the new and old South Green Elementary buildings.

All members of the board were present for the meeting along with Superintendent Chad Muhlenkamp, Tommy Gumm, board chair of Alliance Corporation, and members of the construction company.

One agenda item that elicited discussion from the board members was concerning the approval of an athletic ticket price increase.

“The high school has requested that we change the ticket price from $5 to $6 and the season passes from $50 to $60,” Muhlenkamp said. “Most districts in the area have gone to $6 or $7 per ticket. It’s just to try to stay competitive.”

Muhlenkamp also said the district is looking into online ticket purchases, a feature previously unavailable to those wanting to attend GIS games.

Currently, all Glasgow High School students who present their IDs get into sports games free of charge. Vice Chair Mary Burchett-Bower asked if this applied to all students in the district, which Muhlenkamp informed her that it did not.

“What about the little kids?” Burchett-Bower said. “It puts a huge burden on these parents who have younger children…you’ve got one parent staying home with the kids because they can’t pay.”

In the end, the increase was approved with an addition, made by Burchett-Bower, that allowed all students in the district to get into sporting events, with the exception of football and basketball, free of charge if accompanied by a paying adult.

Muhlenkamp said the addition of “with a paying adult” was intended to help solve the issue of parents leaving their children at GIS games unsupervised. A lot of the issues they have experienced at sporting events have been caused by this, Muhlenkamp said.

Muhlenkamp also presented to the board for their approval the lease the district had worked out with Glasgow concerning the use and upkeep of Richardson Field. According to Muhlenkamp the district would cover the utility costs and everything “inside the fence” while the city would be responsible for outside and the buildings.

Board attorney Tom Davis said the city has been very flexible in this agreement and he was happy with the current lease. He recommended the approval.

As has become a staple of the board meetings since it began last year, Gumm, along with numerous Alliance members, updated the board on the construction and renovation of the SGE buildings. Gumm said the old building would be ready for students by the time the school year began on Aug. 28. He said the finishing touches and the final cleaning of the old building would begin today, Aug. 11.

Gumm said the ceiling was mostly complete and the HVAC system was up and running. He also mentioned the metal wall paneling, that would cover the current exterior, was on site and the installation would “definitely pick up in the near future.”

Another construction update Gumm mentioned was the change made to the school’s catch basin that redirects rain water to a storm drain in the front of the school rather than it going down the hill into the nearby neighborhood.

“When we had the historic rain not long ago several people on Hall Street came and paid a visit to us,” Muhlenkamp said. “They were not necessarily in the best of spirits because of the amount of water and things that washed over the hill to them. So the catch basin…has been rerouted with a pipe to where it’s going into the storm drain at the front of the building so that 90 percent should now come to the front.”

All items on the agenda were approved by the board including allowing the handler to purchase the therapy dog, approving therapy and Caverna Independent Schools contracts, and accepting donations to various school programs. They also went into a closed session to discuss potential property acquisition. No action was taken when they returned to open session.

Gumm gave the board members a tour of the facilities during the meeting. Below are some photos of the progress. All photos are courtesy of Alliance Corporation.