Arlee High School needs repairs

ARLEE — Remodeling the Arlee High School is now one of the biggest issues facing the school district since the school's need for a renovation has become apparent, and voters could decide the project's outcome.

Many of the school's buildings are dilapidated and unaccommodating to the needs of the school and the increasing number of students.

The district has been interviewing architects who will create a design plan for the remodeling project with the hopes of presenting their plan to voters at a general election in November.

"We are looking at finding an architect that can present to the voters, then if it's approved we will do some remodeling," superintendent Gordon Friberg said.

The high school gym is the main concerns for the school, along with a multi purpose lunchroom. A portion of the elementary school also needs to be replaced Friberg said.

"The gym floor has started to buckle again," he said.

The floor was repaired once before and Friberg said that the floor was no longer repairable.

"A new gym will take care of the floor problem, Friberg said.

In order to keep within the budget Friberg would like to utilize existing buildings, like the gym. Friberg stated that it was a possibility to turn the existing gym into an art and music building but the project is still in the planning stages. It was also suggested that the gym could be used as a shop building.

The foundation in the high school is deteriorating along with the centerpieces of the cinder blocks. The district needs a new school to solve the problem but funding is not available for a project as extensive as that so the district staff is prioritizing the projects by the greatest need.

If the plan doesn't pass Friberg said that the school will have to spend hundreds of dollars on replacing the gym floor. However, the projects represent a makeover of sorts for the district.

"Five to 10 years after this, then we start building the new elementary," Friberg said. "It all goes in phases."

In other school board news, the athletics department coaching positions were up for their annual review and approval by the board.

The wrestling coach position was advertised, and a group of wrestlers attended the school board meeting to show their support for coach Ken Hill.

Friberg said that advertising the position was normal procedure with yearly contracted coaching positions, and he stated that Hill will remain the coach.

"He is still our wrestling coach," Friberg said.

There will be a change in the basketball line-up since head coach Cole Maxwell announced his resignation to the board, and it was accepted.

It was discussed at the meeting that it wasn't fair to the coaches that their positions were contracted on a yearly basis; others disagreed and said that it was fair to advertise the positions. Chairman Greg Willoughby stated that this issue comes up every year and it will not change since there is law on the procedure and the school has to follow it.

The athletic director's position was also on the agenda.

"This is Richard Bachmeier's last year as the athletic director," Friberg said.

In other news Joyce Auer was the recipient of a lifetime award from the FCCLA at the State conference.

"I do believe that this is a long overdue award to one of our finest teachers," said Bachmeier, who is also the principal.