By OLIVER GOOD

Staff writer

During a tour of the new USD 411 facilities, Goessel Board of Education members learned the move-in date might be as early as November, but could be pushed back yet again until the end of the semester in mid-December.

Superintendent John Fast said the persistent delays were “extremely disappointing.”

Originally, the board had hoped the project would be complete for students to use at the beginning of the school year, but expected delays to push the move-in date back to mid- September or early October.

“The primary holdup has been with the window and door shipments,” Fast said.

Some contractors can’t finish their work until building is safe from the elements.

“With three rooms being labs, there is also a tremendous amount of electrical work to do,” he said.

Conversely, the new art room is finished, while the flooring in new weight room should arrive this week, Fast said. The roof on the new storm shelter is complete, but the brickwork still needs to be finished, and it should be ready to use by spring.

In other business

• Board members approved a $3,000 Science Technology Engineering, and Mathematics grant from Westar Energy to high school science teacher Donna O’Neill for a robotics program. USD 411 was the only school in the state to receive the grant.
• Members approved 31 Chromebooks for the sixth grade class. The approval fulfills a one-to-one ratio goal for fourth through 12th grade students.
• High school student Conner Davis gave a presentation to the board as part of his leadership project for FFA.
• Family and Consumer Science teacher Beth Ratzloff was approved as cheerleading co-sponsor.