School board eyes foundation, other issues at the junior high

McCOOK, Neb. — A recent tour of the McCook Junior High was an “eye-opening” experience for one McCook Board of Education member.

Board member Charlie McPherson said the foundation issues and the outdated mechanical room at the junior high were surprised to find when he and other board members and administration toured the school as part of the facilities committee. “It was eye-opening.”

Board secretary Mike Langan agreed and went even further, saying he was shocked at the structural damage and foundation issues. “It was way worse than I anticipated,” he said during the discussion at Monday night’s regular school board meeting.

Board member Tom Bredvick said kids are still safe at the school, but there is long-term structural damage as well as other issues at the school that have to be addressed. When it was built in 1966, the junior high was cutting-edge technology, but teachers are now using bookcases as sound barriers for the open-concept classrooms.

A proposal from W Designs engineering firm was presented to facilities committee members, that recommended mostly new construction at the school, said Superintendent Grant Norgaard. The east wing of the school can’t be salvaged and new construction would take care of safety issues, such as having one entrance into the school, covering the walkway between the junior and senior high and classrooms large enough for 22-27 students, he said.

A new junior high would require voters to pass a bond and the school would have to be built to last long into the future.

“Whatever we do at the junior high has to last 60-100 years,” Norgaard said, as there will be future bonds coming up for other schools in the district. The proposal from W Design is a good plan and answers the school’s needs, he added.

McCook School Business Manager Jeff Gross said this is just the beginning stage and expects the proposal to be tweaked before bringing it to the community, to get patrons involved in the process. Compared to the junior high, the McCook Senior High, built in 1956, is much better constructed and has about another 20 years in its life span, he said. Because of the way it’s laid out, the high school can be remodeled, but that isn’t possible at the junior high, he said.

The discussion also took place on proposed bills in the Nebraska Legislature that would impact property taxes and how public schools are funded, one referred to as the Nebraska Plan and another, the Pillen Plan, named after Gov. Jim Pillen. Norgaard said while both plans are better than the formula used now, the Nebraska Plan would result in much lower property taxes. However, the Pillen Plan seems more likely to move forward, he said.

Norgaard also spoke on the proposed new McCook YMCA facility and the mutual benefits of that for the school. The school district has a good partnership with the YMCA, he said, by sharing the school’s parking lot and using the pool.