ELY – What a difference a year makes. In the late summer of 2021, as ISD 696 administrators took required steps to adjust COVID-19 public health protocols to keep students and staff safe, some in this community aggressively pushed back against a face mask mandate and other safety measures.
As an updated Ely School Safe Learning Plan for that school year was initiated, enrollment dropped as parents pulled their kids out of school to protest the measures. School board members heard an earful from many vocal community members as they complained of over-reach by the district. Threats were directed at the superintendent. The Ely Police Department was present at a crowded, contentious meeting held in the school gymnasium last August.
This week, ISD 696 school board members took state and federal public health changes to heart and revised the school district’s Safe Learning Plan for the start of the new school year. Not a single parent or community member at the school board meeting Monday night was there to complain or, for that matter, praise board members for continuing to make the hard decisions to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 still exists in this community and across the state and nation.
The revisions to the plan, recommended by the school administrative team and reviewed by the district’s safe learning plan advisory committee, removes many requirements that were in place last year.
Since the indoor face mask requirement for Ely schools was abandoned last winter, the latest safe learning plan takes into account the updated guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
“We were required by the state to update our plan,” said Superintendent John Klarich. “We now have a workable plan.”
K-5 Principal Anne Oelke noted that the recent safe learning plan advisory committee meeting was brief.
“We struck everything out of it pretty much, except what we are required to do,” she said.
The Ely school board unanimously approved the Safe Learning Plan for the 2022-23 school year with minimal discussion. The two-page document was created using the limited number of requirements set forth by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and the CDC.
Among the highlights:
• COVID-19 vaccinations are strongly recommended for children age five and older.
• Face masks are recommended but not required for students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, in all indoor school settings.
• Students in the nurse’s office with COVID-19 symptoms may be provided a mask to wear while screening.
• Ely Public Schools offers free on-site testing for COVID-19.
• Cleaning practices continue in the school buildings to support mitigation of COVID-19, and water filling stations remain available.
• Hand sanitizer is available at the main entrance for visitors.
• A sick child must be kept at home.
• ISD 696 is mandated to report all positive COVID-19 cases to the MDH.
In conclusion, the district will continue to review guidance from MDE and MDH and will make changes to the plan as necessary.
The safe learning plan concluded, “We believe it is important that we all remember to respect the decisions and actions of others in our community while we seek the common goal of a safe environment.”
Building project
The board received their last update from construction officials prior to school opening in three weeks on Monday, Sept. 12. School families and the community will get a sneak peek in the renovated school during an open house on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Todd Erickson, project manager for Kraus-Anderson, said the $21.5 million project is 94 percent complete, and told the board he estimated final completion for the end of September.
The gymnasium floor in the new building addition is complete. The bleachers are in, and the basketball hoops are installed.
“The volleyball net is not installed but is on-site,” Erickson said. “And the pads on the walls need to be installed.
Open house participants will not be allowed to enter the new gymnasium.
In the commons areas, construction crews spent nearly eight weeks grinding and polishing the terrazzo floor, according to Erickson. Construction of the arched ceiling is expected to begin next week, he added.
The new school kitchen is essentially complete.
“The Health Department visited last week and everything passed,” he said. “The school is now allowed to deliver dry goods and cooler items in there.”
The kitchen area will also be off-limits during the open house.
Nine welding stations in the industrial technology area are installed and ready for use.
The second floor of the Washington building is “essentially” complete and ready for occupancy, according to Erickson.
“Cleaning in each classroom up there was conducted last week with carpet shampooing, floor sweeping and wall cleaning,” he said.
On the campus exterior, the curbing was set to be completed by Tuesday.
“Concrete sidewalks will be installed and backfilled to bring them up to grade this week, and the asphalt crew for the parking lots comes in next week,” Erickson said. “By Sept. 2, it is our intent to have all the parking lots paved.”
The rock blasting necessary for the water and sewer infrastructure installation was the main reason for the project completion delay. Erickson noted that an area of the southeast parking lot, near the campus pickleball courts, “had rock that was actually higher than the proposed asphalt elevation, and mass excavation was necessary.”
The process for rock excavation was originally estimated to require about ten days.
“The process for the rock excavation took four weeks because of the quantity involved,” he said. “The actual volume of rock that was removed is still being verified, so we don’t have the total amount of contingency funds used for that.”
Erickson remains in doubt as to when the renovated locker rooms in the Memorial building will be completed.
“I need more input from the flooring contractor about the duration needed to get the job done. That is the critical factor,” he said. “Our goal is to be done with the locker rooms by early October.”
Erickson told board members that a certificate of occupancy for the school will be issued this week by the Ely building official.
Other business
In other business, the board:
• Heard more details from Klarich about the open house scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 8, beginning at 3:30 p.m. The new secured entrance in the school addition will be open for use. The existing entrances in the Memorial and Washington buildings will also be open for that event. In addition to the new gymnasium and kitchen being locked that day, the Industrial Technology Education area will likely be off limits. “The public will be able to snoop and look at the new facility and ask questions,” he said.
• Heard from new 6-12 Principal Jeff Carey that 14 new students are enrolled in high school to start the school year. A high school social studies teaching position vacancy remains.
• Approved Washington and Memorial school handbooks and revised class schedules for the new year.
• Accepted the resignation of cafeteria aide Holly Maxwell, effective Aug. 16.
• Hired Virginia Anderson, Quinn Vidas and Molly Holtz as paraprofessionals at $17.23 for 6.5 hours per student contact day.
• Approved sports events worker pay increases for the new school year as recommended by the athletic director.