Huntley Project School Board members accepted Travis Kamp’s trustee resignation letter at Tuesday’s Special Board meeting. Board Chairman Tim Ley, left, was instructed by the rest of the board members to fill his now vacant position in the interim which will be announced at the March 7th special board meeting. Other current board members include (left to right) Brooke Logan, Vice Chair, Clint Johannes and Hal Iverson. (Jonathan McNiven Photo)
The Huntley Project School Board met this week in a special board meeting to address the vacancy that occurred when board trustee Travis Kamp submitted his resignation letter to the district on February 23. Kamp’s resignation letter said he would no longer be residing in the school district. The board had two options in regards to what could be done in trying to fill the rest of his 3-year term, now- vacant position. The board could either appoint a former past trustee that left in good standing (and was not voted out of office) with the district or put it out for an election. However, time is of essence for the board and school district as they have additional matters that need to be addressed as far as roof repairs and the insurance company they are dealing with, bids, mill levy discussion and decisions that affect the district for the next school year.
The board approved appointing a past trustee to the open position temporarily and have Chairman Tim Ley reach out to those past trustees interested in filling the position in the interim for two months.
The board, HP administration and County Superintendent of Schools Sherry Long were concerned with all the scrutiny of school boards recently on the national level, and also felt it was important to get the position filled as soon as possible. Another special board meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 7th to name and appoint the new board member. That interim trustee position will be filled for two months and will allow the school district to accept names that file as candidates to fill the rest of Travis Kamp’s three-year term in which two years are left.
Huntley resident Bill Cook is the first to file as a school board candidate to be elected and fill the remainder of Kamp’s two years on the school board. Applications to run as a school board member can be found at the district office. Closing date to file as a school board candidate is March 24th and the election will take place in May.
Ben Lambert (K-4), Clint Croy (5-8), and Sam Bruner (9-12) were all rehired as principals for the next school year. In addition, Marlene Krum was rehired as the lunch and activity clerk, Scott Gierke was rehired as Maintenance, Missy Tasker as Food Service Manager, and Tim Bastian was rehired as the Athletic and Transportation Director for the next school year.
In regards to the ongoing school roof repairs and dealing with the insurance company, CentiMark was awarded the bid contract for the roofing repairs at $527,777.00 with the repairs to be completed around August 15, 2022. The winning bid came in about $150,000 lower than the amount of insurance that has been allocated for the repairs. However, that does not take into consideration the increased cost of materials that have gone up, and the skylight area that is also being taken into consideration as an alternate bid. All in all, the total cost of the roof repairs is within about $100,000 of the previously scheduled amount, according to trustee Brooke Logan. Board members and school administration expressed appreciation for Brooke and all the work and time she has put into helping the process along, even with the long process that it has been. Logan expressed the desire to “be good stewards” of the school, buildings and property and getting it all finished.
As for continuing to work on school projects as well as with the insurance companies from past hail damage and assessing overall damage from past storms, Superintendent Mark Wandle expressed his desire to “getting a resolution and move the ball down the field.”
Board member Hal Iverson followed up with concerns and questions about whether the school needed to file a second claim in regards to other damage that occurred from a July 2020 storm, but that has not been decided yet.
In regards to whether the school will run a mill levy, it will be discussed at the next regular school board meeting on March 21.
The next special scheduled board meeting will be March 7 to announce the outcome of the trustee position.
The March regular board meeting for Huntley Project School District is scheduled for Monday, March 21st in the administration building.
