During the work session portion of the regular school board meeting on Monday, Feb. 8, Mid-Prairie superintendent Mark Schneider informed the school board of problems with the HVAC controls in the …
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During the work session portion of the regular school board meeting on Monday, Feb. 8, Mid-Prairie superintendent Mark Schneider informed the school board of problems with the HVAC controls in the middle school building. While the other three main district buildings — the high school, West Elementary and East Elementary — use systems from Control Installations of Iowa, known as Ci3, the middle school uses a system from Modern Controls.
The Modern Controls system was installed at the middle school because at the time, in 2015, they presented the lowest bid. But the system has not worked ideally, Schneider said. He estimated that replacing the HVAC system at the middle school could cost more than $85,000.
Middle school lead custodian Gary Dawson said he has had “a lot of difficulty” not only with the Modern Controls system itself, but also with receiving service from the company.
The Building and Grounds Director, Maury Gallagher, said due to the hiccups and frustrations with Modern Controls, he would not pursue district-wide integration with Modern Controls at Mid-Prairie or Clear Creek Amana, where he also serves as Facilities Director.
The board took no action regarding the HVAC controls, but tabled the item for a future meeting.
The board members were also updated about the current search for two vacant principal positions at the middle school and virtual academy.
The virtual academy position is a half-time position currently open only to internal candidates. There is currently one applicant, but the application window does not close until Feb. 19. The middle school position is currently open to internal and external applicants with about 20 applications received so far.
Schneider said he hopes to gather several mixed committees to assist with the search, encompassing a total of about 30-40 people to help identify the values, beliefs and skills of the new middle school principal, who will replace Marc Pennington, who is leaving the district after 17 years of service.
Eventually, Schneider said he hopes to narrow the field down to about six candidates to be interviewed over two days, likely to take place the week after spring break.
