In addition to approving the yearly audit, the Mid-Prairie Board of Education received updates from superintendent Mark Schneider regarding facilities and the search for a new middle school principal at their regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 22.

The facilities committee reconvened at the beginning of February after about a year of inactivity, largely due to the pandemic. In January of 2020 Shive-Hattery, an architecture and engineering firm, conducted a facilities study showing possible avenues for facilities upgrades, including expanding classrooms in the elementary and middle school buildings, improvements to the track, renovations to the theatre and other projects.

Superintendent Schneider recommended that the board members refamiliarize themselves with the Shive-Hattery report. No action was taken regarding facilities — it was just an opportunity to gather information and start asking questions, Schneider said. Facilities issues will likely be included on most forthcoming board agendas.

Activities Director Tyler Hotz presented three known facilities issues to the board that have come up since the Shive-Hattery report was finalized last year: the wrestling room, track and softball field are all in need of improvements.

The wrestling room, which this year housed 40 high school wrestlers and 15-20 middle school wrestlers, is not big enough to accommodate that number of participants.

“As we look to the future, I think those numbers are going to be pretty consistent,” Hotz said. “We don’t expect a large drop-off in participation. We’ve been utilizing the downstairs wrestling room and the loft, which is not ideal. There are safety concerns with the loft, with two different sets of stairs and the mats not going all the way to the wall.”

While there were previous plans, including funding, to expand the wrestling room, the fire marshal did not approve the plans. Hotz and the facilities committee are currently looking at other options to expand the wrestling room to the north or west.

Hotz said the track is generally resurfaced every seven or eight years and the current track is at the seven-year mark right now. Hotz said it would be beneficial to widen the track because having eight full lanes all the way around would make Mid-Prairie eligible to host a district meet.

Finally, Hotz shared that the lights on the softball field, which were the subject of recent study, are old and dim, which is a safety concern. New lights would cost about $125,000-150,000, for which the boosters and other groups would likely contribute financially.

Schneider said he plans to consult Shive-Hattery to gather more information about these issues.

Schneider also gave the board an update regarding the search for a new middle school principal to replace Marc Pennington. The application window closed on Feb. 19 and there are currently 34 applicants. About eight candidates will be invited to interview on March 8-9 in a process that involves mixed groups of school staff, students and community members. Due to concerns with the pandemic, the interviews, except for a tour of the middle school building, will take place off-site, at the Kalona Community Center and Kalona Public Library.

Schneider said he plans to present the board with recommendation as to who should fill the position after spring break.