Cold snap damages heaters at high school

McCOOK, Neb. — Three heating units at McCook High School will have to be replaced after bitter winter temperatures caused them to malfunction and break down.

McCook Schools Business Manager Jeff Gross told the McCook School Board Monday night that wind blew open a door on the main air handler at the high school on Dec. 22, and the door froze open. This caused smaller heater units in three classrooms at the high school to quit working. Water froze the pipes, causing some water damage in the classrooms.

Cost of replacing the heating units will run about $6,000 each and be delivered in six to eight weeks, Gross said. Funds in the depreciation fund will cover the costs.

Gross cited McCook Public Schools maintenance employee Paul Paz for discovering the problem early on and averting what could have been hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Paz worked a 70-plus hour work week during that time and was at the school day and night checking the HVAC system, Gross said.

In a related note, the new HVAC system at the junior high, a $900,000 project paid for with ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds, is working but some parts are not operating correctly, he told the board. Problems have been identified and parts have been ordered to fix the issues.

Other items he highlighted in his report to the board included:-A “Request for Proposals” which will be published in January to repair the roof at Central Elementary. The roof at Central is different than other roofs in the school district as it’s a spray-on roof.-Work has begun on the interior of the track press box.-14,951 meals were served in December. Superintendent Grant Norgaard told the board that school principals are working on minor revisions to the evaluation tool used to assess teachers. Principals feel the changes will be a way to clarify how teachers impact the classroom, he said. Once the changes are done, it will go to the board for approval and then to the state for final approval. The changes should be in place prior to the start of the 2023-24 school year. After the regular meeting, the board met in closed, executive session for the superintendent’s annual evaluation.

Positive comments at the close of Monday’s meeting included:

- Board member Scott Barger: thanked teachers for all the extra work they do, such as music teacher Deborah Donelan for the Central Stars program at Hillcrest; Cory Degnan, eighth grade science teacher, for the upcoming science fair at the junior high; and Ben Vetrovsky, business/technology teacher at the high school, for the work he’s doing with TV/production students.

-Board member Charlie McPherson: liked how school officials and the community worked together when an alternate location had to found for the homecoming dance, when Norris Alley, the original location, could not be used.

-Board secretary Mike Langan: commended the boys tennis team state championship; girls wrestling that placed third at a recent Norton invitational and boys wrestling at Beatrice. He also commented on how strong academics are at McCook Public Schools.

— Board vice president Teresa Thomas: kudos to the maintenance staff for snow and ice removal and the janitorial staff for keeping halls clear of snow with all the snow tracked in.

— Board member Tom Bredvick: thanked the community for the support and partnership with the grants and donations that continue to be made to the schools.

— Board president Brad Hays: Thanked Al Cuellar, McCook Community Foundation and Graff Foundation for their gifts to MPS.

— Student Council representative Samantha Rodewald: cited choir teacher Abbey McNutt and the work that’s being done in getting students ready for the UNO honor choir.

— Business manager Jeff Gross: thanked Paul Paz on the maintenance staff for working extremely hard to keep the HVAC systems going through a very difficult time.

— Superintendent Grant Norgaard: cited the head of maintenance Chris Wallace and thanked him for all of his work and the hard decisions he has to make. Also thanked the administration team for their leadership and guidance toward the teaching staff.