News

Bottineau's School Board holds its August meeting

By Heather Milbrath

08/20/2013

The Bottineau School Board met at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 14 The big topics covered at this meeting were the 2013-14 budget, enrollment and a presentation from the Bottineau Park Board.

The meeting began with a presentation from Bottineau Park Board president Mike Aasen and Bottineau Park Board director Brian Knudson. Aasen and Knudson told the school board about the park board’s push for a new scoreboard in the Community Hockey Arena.

The total cost to install a new score board will be $12,000. The park board proposed a plan that would have the four different entities that use the arena to each pay an equal share. The park board is asking BPS, Dakota College at Bottineau and the Bottineau Blue Line Club to each pay $3,000 toward the new scoreboard, with the park board also contributing $3,000.

Aasen told the school board the history of the old scoreboard, and details about the new scoreboard. The old scoreboard was installed in 1977.

Although the clock still works, the bulbs are expensive to replace, and is a very tedious process for arena staff. Knudson said that this board would last a few more years, but the park board would rather be proactive and replace the old board before it quits working.

The new scoreboard would have all the same features as the old one; clock, score, penalty minutes, players in the box, and will also feature shots on goal. The new system will also have an additional timer clock that would be place on the south wall of the arena.

This clock would be synchronized with the main clock during games, making it easier for players and referees to keep up with time remaining in the period. Coaches can also utilize this secondary clock during practice as a stop clock for timed drills. The new systems will have wireless controllers, allowing the stop clock to be used anywhere in the arena.

The board felt it was important to go directly to those entities that use the clock for payments, instead of asking the city for money. The school board decided to approve their share of $3,000 for the new arena clock. If the clock is ordered by Sept. 1, it would be installed for this year’s hockey season. If there are additional costs above the $12,000, the park board will cover those expenses.

The school board also discussed the enrollment for the 2013-14 school year. Grades seven through 12 are projecting a total enrollment of 254 at this time. The 2013 graduating class had 57 students, but the new seventh grade class added only 34 students.

This has caused a decrease in the total enrollment, which in turn can cause some issues with scheduling and class sizes. The high school is also still dealing with the absence of a FACS position, although interviews have been held, and superintendent Jason Kersten is optimistic that that issue will be solved this year.

There has been an increase in enrollment in preschool through sixth grade. The current enrollment for preschool through sixth grade is 389 students, which is up 40 students from the end of last year. While this is a positive, there is a struggle for finding room for all these students.

Elementary principal Brian Palmer has been looking at other options for placement of the preschool class, including the possibility of renting from the First Lutheran Church, where it was many years ago.

The board also discussed the budgeting information for the 2013-14 school year and projects that had been completed throughout the summer, including the remodeling of the high school girls locker room. Kersten said the locker room was coming along well, and he was impressed with the work that has already been completed.