Shipping delays thwart school project

Completion of the Building Excellent Schools Today project at Holyoke JR/SR High School has been tracking beautifully all summer to meet the Aug. 16 completion date.

That is until supply delays started being reported in late July.

At the Aug. 3 school board meeting, owner’s rep Ryan Smelker reported the delays that are completely out of their control.

He assured the board that they’re still on track to have inspections done by the original target date of Aug. 16.

While the delays will require some work-arounds until the project can be completed, Smelker said they still have the ability to open the doors and get kids in school as planned on Tuesday, Aug. 24, for the JR/SR high and Wednesday, Aug. 25, for the elementary school.

Academic areas on target for on-time completion

Andy Stewart with Howell Construction emphasized that most academic rooms, new offices, the trainers room and more should be fully completed, inspected and ready to go on opening day.

Lockers and air handling units are the biggest things they’re waiting on to affect full use of the junior high and high school locker rooms. The rooms will be operational, just not complete.

In the case of the air handling unit, Stewart noted that it’s a simple microchip component that’s missing. But it halts the project completion.

Rooftop units at the weight room and the HS locker room, a cold well, custom sinks, two ice machines and tables for a taping station in the trainers suite are also delayed. A short-term alternative may also be needed for the coiling door at the front entrance to the school.

At this point, revised dates are targeted at varying times this month, with the tables and ice machines delayed until September.

Work-arounds are in place for the warming kitchen to be open and serving meals on the first day of school, Smelker said.

Tracking of items to ship was fine until suddenly it wasn’t fine on Tuesday, July 27.

Smelker and Stewart, as well as project manager Collin Jacobsen were emphatic in their statements of dedication to continue to move toward full completion of the project when the delayed shipments do arrive.

Superintendent Kyle Stumpf said he still feels passionate about having the right partners with Howell/Wold for this BEST project. He emphasized that the delays are completely out of everyone’s control.

“It isn’t going to be as buttoned up and show-ready as we were hoping for the first day of school, but I’m very confident we will get where we need to be,” said Stumpf.

“We will take every step we can to move heaven and earth to help with whatever Plan B is,” said Stewart, noting that everything that they can control is still on track for completion on schedule.

“We are experiencing something in our business that we’ve never seen before,” Stewart added. “It’s unprecedented times in the supply chain, and a number of different problems are reaching a crescendo at the same time.”

Stewart said he can’t stress enough the global nature of what they’re dealing with. To start with, they are facing a spike in the demand for construction services and materials coming out of the pandemic.

Additionally, the freeze in Texas in February affected plastic materials fabricated there, and the backup in the Suez Canal affected trade routes in Asia. Another factor is the truck driver shortage for transporting ordered supplies.

Jacobsen assured the board that they’re staying on top of inspections and work-arounds to work through the unprecedented situation.

Much progress and change was noted in the project in just a week prior to last week’s board meeting, noted Stewart. He pointed out that there’s still a lot of cleaning to do, and a team of eight professional cleaners was scheduled to start scouring down the building this week.

The elevator should be completed by the end of this week, and Smelker noted that as of the board meeting, all furniture was scheduled to arrive on time.

On the financial end, Smelker said they’ve done some minor upgrades for spending some contingency funds. On a bright note, he said he anticipates between $100,000-$150,000 to be left in the contingency at the end of the project.

Stumpf said they’ll be looking at wish-list items for things to use the leftover contingency funds for.

Board members were assured that Schneider Electric is in the loop with regard to the delays as it affects their completion of the energy savings project for the district.

An open house to show off the completed construction will be planned at a later date, possibly the first week in October to tie in with Homecoming week activities.

COVID-19 protocols reviewed

Stumpf reviewed COVID-19 protocols for the district as the 2021-22 school year begins. Those details are highlighted in a separate article in the Back-to-School special section that’s inserted in this week’s Enterprise.

While masks will not be required in the district, they will be required on buses and other school vehicles.

Board member Justin Clayton thanked Stumpf for trying hard to get around the federal mask mandate on school buses. In the end, he noted there’s nothing the district can do about it, as it’s federally mandated.

Clayton emphasized that if people are unhappy with this mandate, the school district is not the place to fight it.

Stumpf noted that wearing masks on the buses isn’t something they like, but it’s a small piece in order to have a little bit of normalcy in other areas such as kids in school and fans in the building.

Elementary Principal Andrea Kammer said they’re looking forward to being able to use one cafeteria instead of two and to be able to use the playground equipment.

Stumpf noted another strong point for Holyoke is the strong working partnership with the Northeast Colorado Health Department. He said the district will work to maintain that.

Handbook changes noted

Changes were noted at last week’s board meeting in the elementary, JR/SR high, activities/athletics and staff handbooks.

Among the highlighted changes in the activities/athletics handbooks were dual sporting clarity, off-season workout details and overnight travel guidelines.

JR/SR High Principal Angela Powell noted changes in the discipline matrix and the dress code. She cited the cellphone policy as the direction they’re going with hat-wearing, noting that they won’t be allowed in classrooms.

She described the blue/yellow pocket charts for cellphones that are drop-offs for cellphone storage at the entry to each classroom.

Other business

In other business at the Aug. 3 meeting, the board:

­— Heard a positive fourth-quarter financial report, with unaudited numbers showing an estimated increase of $666,529 in the reserves.

— Approved the following extra-duty assignments: Logan Hines, assistant HS football, at a stipend of $2,440; Irene Ortega, volunteer HS volleyball; Ashley Gales, assistant HS track, $2,440; David Mauler, head HS boys golf, $3,486; Greg Koellner, assistant JH football, $915; and Hannah Peterson, assistant JH volleyball, $1,569.

— Accepted the resignation from Corey Koberstein for his head JH girls basketball and assistant JH volleyball coaching positions.

— Heard an update on the potential purchase of a freezer for the cafeteria at the elementary school. Two rough quotes look at a potential cost of $16,000.

­— Approved Colorado Association of School Boards policies presented June 22 on the subject of bullying prevention and education.