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Progress being made on RAC bleacher problems
Action was on the light side as the Rochester school board met with all members present Tuesday, but the board did get some
good news regarding the bleacher situation at the Rochester Athletic Complex.
Supt. Tom Bertrand and Director of Operations Brad Alewelt both said progress was being made to resolve the bleacher
issues and that the facility could be re-opened for events before the end of the current sports seasons.
Alewelt said the seventh crew to address the bleachers has been working this week. “They have been making huge strides
with the drive system, but as they tune it up, they’ve been finding more little things wrong that they’re having to address,” he said.
“But the engineer is coming in Thursday and we’ll be there to monitor things.”
Bertrand said the engineer in question was the man who visited the district last year and wrote the report that the administration
is using to correct the situation. “He will be going through the whole checklist Thursday and we hope that by the end of the week, we’
ll have some good news.”
Alewelt said the current crew was far superior to the past workers that have attempted to resolve the problems. “They seem to
be the most knowledgable bleacher crew we’ve had,” he said, and Bertrand added, “I feel a lot better with them than with the
previous crews.”
Bertrand expected significant progress to be made by this Friday and said that if there were no further setbacks, the RAC could
be back in use in seven to 10 days.
Following an executive session, the board approved a short personnel report.
Drew Aschenbrenner was hired as the new Rochester High School volleyball coach and Deanna Grant waas hired as a high
school custodian. Resignations were accepted from three coaches, Caleb Jett (junior high boys track), Lindsay Hearne (high
school volleyball assistant) and Bryan Throckmorton (high school track assistant).
During the 45 minute regular session, the board voted 7-0 to approve the purchase of two new buses from Midwest Transit for
a total of $160,443, which includes trade-ins. The approved bid was the lowest of three received and includes a conventional bus
and a wheelchair-lift bus, giving the district two lift buses.
Bob McDermott, Director of Business Services, reported that the state is once again lagging behind in its reimbursements to
the district. McDermott said the district has received only General State Aid payments thus far in 2011-12 and that the state is still
behind at least two payments in transportation and special education.
Board member Bill Yattoni reported that the district’s climate surveys have been revised and will be sent out in February and
March to students, parents and staff. The district has been sending out the surveys every three years to receive feedback.
Alewelt said that the parking lot at Rochester High School, located adjacent to the RAC and football field, has been slightly
altered for safety reasons. The southernmost line of spaces has been removed to allow for more visibility to motorists driving
through the lot.
Bertrand gave the board a brief update on the district’s Strategic Progress Report. The administration is in the process of
producing a first draft of the new instrument to be used for teacher evaluations and is also having to completely revamp its job
descriptions for teachers, with the hope of having both areas ready for the start of the 2012-13 school year. Laurie McWard, Director
of Education Services, reported that all the buildings were making good progress on converting to the new Common Core
standards, and that Rochester was working with the Pleasant Plains staff to implement changes at the K-1 grade level.
Bertrand said progress was also being made on the one-to-one digital conversion program the district is considering. The
administration is currently “pulling facts together and costs, and we will put together a comprehensive report for you to look over
soon,” Bertrand said, who estimated having a list of computer hardware options with cost alternatives by late January or early
February. “We will need to determine the number of machines that will be needed, and after that, we’ll be looking at infrastructre and
bandwith and finally, we’ll have to discuss training and development.”
“We still have to find a way to make this all work financially,” Bertrand concluded, noting that he thought it was unlikely that the
district would be ready for any implementation of the new program by the start of the 2012-13 school year. “We aren’t going to rush
into this, we want to be sure we do all our homework.”
Action was on the light side as the Rochester school board met with all members present Tuesday, but the board did get some
good news regarding the bleacher situation at the Rochester Athletic Complex.
Supt. Tom Bertrand and Director of Operations Brad Alewelt both said progress was being made to resolve the bleacher
issues and that the facility could be re-opened for events before the end of the current sports seasons.
Alewelt said the seventh crew to address the bleachers has been working this week. “They have been making huge strides
with the drive system, but as they tune it up, they’ve been finding more little things wrong that they’re having to address,” he said.
“But the engineer is coming in Thursday and we’ll be there to monitor things.”
Bertrand said the engineer in question was the man who visited the district last year and wrote the report that the administration
is using to correct the situation. “He will be going through the whole checklist Thursday and we hope that by the end of the week, we’
ll have some good news.”
Alewelt said the current crew was far superior to the past workers that have attempted to resolve the problems. “They seem to
be the most knowledgable bleacher crew we’ve had,” he said, and Bertrand added, “I feel a lot better with them than with the
previous crews.”
Bertrand expected significant progress to be made by this Friday and said that if there were no further setbacks, the RAC could
be back in use in seven to 10 days.
Following an executive session, the board approved a short personnel report.
Drew Aschenbrenner was hired as the new Rochester High School volleyball coach and Deanna Grant waas hired as a high
school custodian. Resignations were accepted from three coaches, Caleb Jett (junior high boys track), Lindsay Hearne (high
school volleyball assistant) and Bryan Throckmorton (high school track assistant).
During the 45 minute regular session, the board voted 7-0 to approve the purchase of two new buses from Midwest Transit for
a total of $160,443, which includes trade-ins. The approved bid was the lowest of three received and includes a conventional bus
and a wheelchair-lift bus, giving the district two lift buses.
Bob McDermott, Director of Business Services, reported that the state is once again lagging behind in its reimbursements to
the district. McDermott said the district has received only General State Aid payments thus far in 2011-12 and that the state is still
behind at least two payments in transportation and special education.
Board member Bill Yattoni reported that the district’s climate surveys have been revised and will be sent out in February and
March to students, parents and staff. The district has been sending out the surveys every three years to receive feedback.
Alewelt said that the parking lot at Rochester High School, located adjacent to the RAC and football field, has been slightly
altered for safety reasons. The southernmost line of spaces has been removed to allow for more visibility to motorists driving
through the lot.
Bertrand gave the board a brief update on the district’s Strategic Progress Report. The administration is in the process of
producing a first draft of the new instrument to be used for teacher evaluations and is also having to completely revamp its job
descriptions for teachers, with the hope of having both areas ready for the start of the 2012-13 school year. Laurie McWard, Director
of Education Services, reported that all the buildings were making good progress on converting to the new Common Core
standards, and that Rochester was working with the Pleasant Plains staff to implement changes at the K-1 grade level.
Bertrand said progress was also being made on the one-to-one digital conversion program the district is considering. The
administration is currently “pulling facts together and costs, and we will put together a comprehensive report for you to look over
soon,” Bertrand said, who estimated having a list of computer hardware options with cost alternatives by late January or early
February. “We will need to determine the number of machines that will be needed, and after that, we’ll be looking at infrastructre and
bandwith and finally, we’ll have to discuss training and development.”
“We still have to find a way to make this all work financially,” Bertrand concluded, noting that he thought it was unlikely that the
district would be ready for any implementation of the new program by the start of the 2012-13 school year. “We aren’t going to rush
into this, we want to be sure we do all our homework.”
Issue Date: Jan. 19, 2012
