BOSCOBEL - The Boscobel School Board voted to table a decision about contracting with Jordan Buss of JBAD Solutions to write a FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant at their June 13 meeting. If pursued, grant funds would be used to construct a community tornado safe room at the school.

If the board were to approve the contract, the district would pay a non-refundable $10,000 retainer fee. At the board’s May meeting, Buss had explained the grant application process, and touted his record of successful grant applications with other districts in the state. He said that overall he had enjoyed a 60 percent success rate.

Buss is expected to attend the board’s July meeting for further discussion of the grant application option.

The timeline for submit-ting an application for the 2022 funding cycle is:

• Application period - October 2022 to the third week of January 2023

Head Track Coach Matthew Fritz was present at the board meeting to recognize the Bulldog track athletes for their performance at the State Track & Field meet held the previous week in LaCrosse.

The four member girls 4x800 relay team took first place for the second time in as many years, which was described as a “noteworthy achievement.” Not only that, they broke the school record time for the event, with a time of 9:40:21. Members of the team included Abri Brown, Skyler Carlin, Lilah Glasbrenner, and Nora Jillson.

Other Bulldog athletes competing at the meet included Mikel Esnaola who finished 14th in the preliminary round of 300-meter hurdles, Brenna Wellner who took 15th in shotput, the boys 4x400 relay team (Ben Bohringer, Gabe Davis, Tucker Schmid-Cox, Mikel Esnaola) who finished two seconds away from qualifying for the finals, the boys 4x800 relay team (Gabe Davis, Levi Glasbrenner, Hayden Schott, Ben Bohringer) finished sixth in the preliminary round,  and Nora Jillson who finished ninth in the 1600-meter event, with a personal record time of 5:22:90.

“We saw all the signs that family and supporters had made to encourage our athletes, and want to let the fans know that it was noticed and appreciated,” Fritz  said. “Our athletes had a very special day at the state meet, and all of our athletes in all the sports had a very good season this year.”

Nate Copsey, Director of Facilities and Grounds, reported to the board about various building and grounds improvement projects currently underway in the school.

“We had some excitement last week when working on a water improvement project, hit a main, and had flooding in the hallway,” Copsey said. “That made for an interesting few days, but we’ve got that all cleaned up now.”

Copsey also reported that in the process of replacing flooring in the middle school, a small amount of asbestos had been discovered. He said that this means there will be an additional $22,000 in asbestos abatement expenses for the project. He said, however, that the project is still expected to come in under budget.

“The asbestos was found in the glue used to lay down the old flooring tiles,” Copsey explained. “The amount discovered was so small, it was borderline for abatement – when that is removed, we will be shutting the building down for two days.”

Other projects planned or currently underway for the building and grounds over the summer include concrete work designed to route water away from the building, work on the conference room, painting in the library, door replacement between the wood and metal shops, installation of dishwashing equipment, and work on the field goal posts and flag poles.

“Also, during the week of June 27, we will be emptying out the ‘bat cave’ of unused stuff, and the track/football shed,” Copsey said. “We plan to advertise that citizens can come on the 30th and buy any of the unused stuff, and then after that, it will go in the dumpster.”

In other business, the board:

• heard that Shayla Pickett has been appointed to the Wisconsin Skyward Steering Committee

• heard that the administrative team will be working on updates of the district’s employee, student, code of conduct, coaches, and safety and emergency handbooks over the summer

• re-approved the purchase of a new UTV for building and grounds staff, as it will not arrive within the current fiscal year

• approved a new policy stating that a student open enrolled in the district who is habitually truant in either semester may be prohibited from attending in the next semester or school year

• approved creation and funding of an ‘Afterschool Academic Support Program’ and a coordinator

• approved the preliminary 2022-2023 school budget, with a projected $41,000 defecit (this is only a preliminary budget, and this amount is expected to be made up through further review of the budget)