Superintendent’s Report – August 2018
As we approach the new school year we are focusing on completing the final tasks that will enable us to open our doors to our students on September 4th. We have filled all our open positions with the exception of one para position, and are excited to welcome new staff on Monday, August 27th for the first of two training days. The School Board is invited to breakfast with our new teachers beginning at 8:30 am on Monday, August 27th in the SAU Conference Room. The number of new staff hired for the 2018/2019 school year is considerably smaller than in recent years, a testament to the efforts associated with the Board Goal focused on staff retention.
Our returning teaching staff are scheduled to meet in their respective buildings at 8:00 am on Wednesday, August 29th. Our official welcome for all staff is scheduled for 8:30 am on Thursday, August 30th, in the Hinsdale Middle/High School Gym.
Our students are scheduled to return on Tuesday, September 4th.
Our custodians have worked hard this summer to make certain our buildings will be ready for the first day with students. They have had to work especially hard to accommodate construction associated with the Hinsdale Elementary School addition/renovation project. Custodians and others are currently setting up desks, chairs, and tables to make sure the new addition classroom space and the renovated space are ready for our students on Tuesday, September 4th.
To date our Hinsdale Elementary School addition/renovation project is still on time and under budget. However, we did encounter a few surprises in July as we worked on the renovation stage of the project. For example, after a July rainstorm we discovered that an existing roof drain connector needed to be redirected as it was found to be draining directly beneath the new building connector hallway to the existing elementary school. As a result, we connected the roof drain pipe to a new six-inch pipe that ran to a newly constructed dry well. Also in July it became clear that the amount of standing water in the area directly adjacent to the new addition was unacceptable. MacMillin agreed to split the cost of the additional site work needed to effectively drain the water from the roof of the new addition. The amount needed from us was $17,200 which was taken from our $54,654.00 owner contingency.
The Hinsdale Code Enforcement Officer, Rod Lawrence, has stated that his inspections related to our HES Addition/Renovation project have gone well.
Our Building Improvement Committee has met several times over the summer and toured the construction site at each meeting. The Building Improvement Committee last met on Wednesday, August 15th. The HES Building Improvement Committee members include the following: Sean Leary, Jim O’Malley, Joe Boggio, Steve Fecto, Alan Putnam, Deb Carrier, Shawn Lee, Jason Sisko, Courtney Hodge, April Anderson, Tom O’Connor, Kathy Bean, and Wayne Woolridge
The Construction Team met every other Tuesday all summer. The team last met on Tuesday, August 21st. The Construction Team toured the construction site after each meeting. The Construction Team members that are District employees are as follows: Joe Boggio, Steve Fecto, Tom O’Connor, Alan Putnam, and Wayne Woolridge. Other Construction team members include Margaret Thomas and Paul Marinance of Marinance Architects, John Edwards from MacMillin Construction who serves as Project Manager and Walter Latiolais from MacMillin who serves as the Project Superintendent. The Hinsdale Building Inspector Rodney Lawrence usually joins the team meetings.
Our project dedication ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, September 22nd, at 10:00 am. The purpose of the ceremony is to thank all those who helped the Hinsdale School District successfully conclude this badly needed addition/renovation project.