Advertisement After giving a brief presentation to the district’s Buildings and Grounds Committee last week, the West Salem Area Aquatic Center Committee took its message to the full board.
“We’re looking long term and obviously this pool is not going to last forever,” said WSAACC spokesperson Rebecca Brown. “We want to be proactive and come up with a plan now so when this pool finally does close, we’ll have something in place to replace it.”
Board President Errol Kindschy said whether the school district or the village builds West Salem’s next pool, it will need to be approved by the voters first in the form of a referendum.
Kindschy said he’s always wondered why the school district took on responsibility for a community pool to begin with. “I felt it should have been the village,” he said.
“The pool’s already outlived its life expectancy by quite a bit,” said board member Scott Scafe. “Mark (Ledman) has done an awesome job at keeping it in service, but I’d like to see some kind of a plan there in case something were to happen where we did have to replace it.”
Between 800 and 1,200 students take swimming lessons at the pool each summer.
“If the school district would have it, I would certainly want to see an indoor pool be a part of it so we could teach it all year ’round,” Kindschy said.
WSAAC members made it clear at both meetings they wanted the district’s approval before moving ahead.
“It’s going to be a school facility, so it’s kind of awkward to do all this without the school’s approval and guidance,” Brown said.
Brown said the group had already approached the village, without success.
“They don’t want it,” said Kindschy of the village’s apparent reluctance to operate the pool. “Holmen has it through the village. Onalaska has it through the village. Most of these places have them through the village, and I’m not saying we can’t have it through the district.”
Superintendent Nancy Burns pointed to one advantage the district would have over the village in levying for a new aquatic center — a broader tax base. The school’s tax levy touches residents in the towns surrounding West Salem, many of whom likely use the pool.
A motion authorizing the WSAACC to move ahead in conceptualizing the project passed unanimously.
Policies outlined
A transportation policy mandating that school vehicles be kept on school property except under special circumstances was given a successful first reading. One-time exceptions would need to be approved by the superintendent. Other exceptions would require full board approval on an annual basis.
Other items outlined in the transportation policy state that only employees can operate district vehicles, school vehicles are for official business only and students may not be transported in personal vehicles without written authorization, among others.
Other policies and policy changes passing a second reading include the banning of recording devices from locker rooms on school property and elsewhere (state tournaments for example); a co-curricular activity policy implemented to foster development in participating students; a co-curricular code of conduct outlining academic performance, attendance and other requirements; a purchasing procedure requiring a requisition form for purchases over $50 and another for petty cash items under $50; a returned check policy; a high school assistant principal/activities director administrative assistant job description; a set of guidelines for co-curricular and educational field trips; and payment procedures.
Another policy on two-way communication devices, like cell phones, was tabled while board members consult nearby districts on their policies.
Other business
In other action, the board:
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