Borg Report November 16, 2023

We have started facilities planning following the passage of the bond referendum last week. I again want to thank all of the staff and community members who supported this investment in our school facilities that I truly believe will be transformational for Westonka Public Schools and our community.

The Westonka School Board Facilities Committee met Wednesday morning to discuss initial project schedules and other logistics. Over the next year, the committee will proceed with the planning, design and public bidding of the communicated bond projects. As I shared last week, the large majority of maintenance and construction work district wide will take place in 2025 and 2026. However, we expect to be able to move forward with select projects next summer.

Summer 2024 Tentative Project List

• Security upgrades at Hilltop Primary School, Shirley Hills Primary School and the Early Learning Center (ELC)
• Construction of 12 new tennis courts across Sunnyfield Road E from Mound Westonka High School (Work is expected to start next summer and be completed in the spring of 2025. The current MWHS courts will remain in use until the new courts are fully operational.)
• Maintenance to the district bus garage

Districtwide safety and security is a top priority of the school board and district, which is why security improvements at Hilltop, Shirley Hills and the ELC have been prioritized in the construction timeline. The relocation of the main office at Grandview Middle School to create a secured entrance and the related security improvements are being targeted for the summer of 2025 to allow sufficient time for design, bidding and securing of materials. Security improvements at Mound Westonka High School will be completed as part of the high school redesign in 2025 and 2026.

As best we can throughout this project, we will limit the impact of construction on our student and community programming. We are excited to begin work on the new tennis courts next summer to help avoid impacts to the White Hawks boys and girls tennis seasons. The tennis court construction does not require the lead times of equipment, design, etc. seen in other projects.

Maintenance to the district bus garage (miscellaneous tuckpointing and electrical improvements) should also be able to fit into the summer 2024 schedule due to the limited scope of the project.

We will be creating a page on the district website for the community to follow along with the progress. In the meantime, I will continue to provide regular updates in my Borg Reports. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

Sincerely,