The Indian Lake Board of Education voted to investigate the possibility of building a new bus garage facility on campus and approved the calendar for the 2024-25 school year during their February regular meeting.
The board authorized Superintendent Dr. Rob Underwood to solicit qualifications from design professionals, who will design the facilities and determine if it is a feasible project for the district. The idea is to move the bus garage and bus parking to the southern part of campus and turn the current bus facility into a multi-purpose athletic facility for the district’s growing wrestling program.
“One of the issues we’ve struggled with over the past few years is that buses have gotten longer and they won’t fit in our current bus maintenance facility. So, we did a study to determine where the best location of a new garage would be.” Underwood noted that the district has “really good wrestling numbers right now and we have a girls wrestling program that continues to grow.
“The practice facility that they use, the wrestlers have simply outgrown it. So, we’re exploring the idea of building a new bus mechanics facility, which would then open up the current facility, or something similar in that same location, for our wrestlers to have somewhere to practice.”
Cast and crew members from the upcoming ILHS musical “Footloose” also addressed the board and explained their roles in the production. They invite everyone to attend the event on March 1 and 2. Tickets go on sale to the public on Feb. 15 at http://ils-k12.org/athletic__activity_director/ticket_box_office.
Finally, board members voted to accept the proposed calendar for the 2024-25 school year that was chosen by a popular vote of staff members.
In other action, the board:
• accepted the BWC FY24 School Safety Grant in the amount of $38,572.37 and established respective funds;
• accepted the Education Award for the High School Language Arts Department in the amount of $481.50;
• accepted the following donations: $4,000 from the Indian Lake Watershed Project Board of Directors for the Indian Lake Music Department, $500 from Osgood Bank to the Student Council to support the purchase of memorial trees for Nolan Purk and Chloe Hodge, a $3,134 tool donation from Flex Machine Tools for the HS shop and welding department, $150 from Mary Royer to the Joshua Keith Memorial Scholarship;
Approved the 21st Century Grant after school program student supervisor stipend, and approve supplemental contract for Katy Taylor, student supervisor, to be paid at a rate of $30 per hour by grant funds; and
• extended the following supplemental contracts: Brian Claybaugh, Hailey Even, Kristen Soos and Emali Davidson, middle school track; and Renee Metzger, volunteer high school track.
The next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 18, at the board office.
Indian Lake High School senior Logan Duncan, left, and junior Adeline Robinson explain their roles in the upcoming ILHS musical production of “Footloose,” slated for March 1 and 2. (Indian Lake SCHOOLS PHOTO)