Ames Board Approves $117,000 Worth of Repairs to Fellows Elementary

The Board reviewed a report on all district school buildings, briefly discussed board goals and approved $117,000 worth of improvements to in a meeting Monday.

Gerry Peters, director of facilities planning and management, presented the November 2010 State of the District Properties Report, which is available online. He also explained that needed repairs to Fellows Elementary School would take several years to complete because students can't be in the building during renovations.

Repairs could be completed in about 18 months, if they could move all students to another building, he said. had considerable problems as well.

Both of those schools would have been replaced by newer schools if voters approved a in September. However, voters said no to the plan and also elected four new board members to the seven member board.

How the board will address facilities' needs will be discussed at future meetings, but the more immediate issue of mold abatement at Fellows will be handled more quickly. The board unanimously approved $117,000 worth of bids for improvements that would prevent future mold growth.

Board members briefly discussed drafts of goals for the current year. It includes coming up with a facilities plan by January 2012, which would lead to a new referendum by June 2012. The board also hopes to come up with a more frequent measure of student progress beyond the standardized tests students are already taking now. The full list of goals will be approved in November.