School Board Chooses Plan for MES

The Malta School Trustees Building Sub-committee of Justin Lamb and Scott McNeeley, along with Supt. Matt Genger met with the engineer that is set to do the HVAC work on the elementary school to decide which option to move forward with.

There were three options to choose from. Ranging in price from $700,000 to $1.2 million. All of the plans include air conditioning. This is the project that the school has earmarked the ESSAR III funds that they have received to use for.

After discussing the positives and negatives of each plan with the engineer, the group decided to move forward with the middle plan.

Mr. Genger said, “That is the plan that fits what we are looking for and is the least invasive option. It can use some of the existing ductwork and other parts and if they were to work into the school year, they would still be able to work in some areas.”

Mr. McNeely said, “It’s also the middle option in price, so we have some room in case an unforeseen problem comes up.”

The engineer said that they do not want to start the project until all of the equipment and parts are on site. With the current shipping problems that everyone is having, the project will not start until the summer of 2023. Ensuring that everything will be on-site to begin with. The engineer doesn’t want to get into a situation where the crew is constantly having to start and stop. Right now, there are some parts that are on backorder for eight months.

Student Council representatives Skylie Lefdahl, Senior Class President, and Kaylee Bishop, Senior Class Vice President reported to the board.

Lefdahl said, “The students are pushing a new hashtag. It’s #MightyMalta. So be sure to use that freely.” (Some will have to ask their kids/grandkids what that means.)

Bishop said, “We are continuing to move forward with our ‘new student’ questionnaire. We are getting some really good feedback from it. One thing we’ve learned is that we need to have some of the students involved with the new students instead of just the staff or faculty.”

They also informed the board that Prom is on March 26. The theme this year is ‘neon’.

In the action items, Mrs. Anna LaBrie, in a very dramatic fashion (requested by Jane Knudsen), asked the board for permission to take a group of students to Europe in 2023. She stated that the plan is to go to Ireland for a few days, then to Scotland, and then down to London for a total of 11 days. Very similar to the trip taken in 2018. The board approved the request and all asked if they could go along.

The next Malta School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12, at 7:00 p.m.