Board rejects roof bids for special ed center

By CONNIE JO DISCOE

Regional Editor

McCook school board members rejected two bids for a new roof on the school district's special education building during their regular monthly meeting Monday evening.

Board members also discussed Monday how the building, on North Highway 83, will be used once special education preschoolers move into their classrooms at the new McCook Elementary this spring.

Neither roof bid -- from Weathercraft of McCook and Houlden Contracting of Cambridge -- included repairs to the roof's substructure, and, according to school district maintenance supervisor Chris Wallace, the roof deck must be repaired before a new roofing system is applied.

Weathercraft's bid is for a Firestone "Rubbergard" ballasted system and is warranted for 15 years. Houlden's bid is for a sprayed-in-place polyurethane "Energy Star System" and "Benchmark" top coat. It is warranted for 12 years.

Board members asked that both companies resubmit their bids to include deck repairs, which, board member Jim Coady said, are usually bid on a cost-per-square-foot basis.

If other companies submit bids for the roof project, they must offer a warranty of at least 10 years.

Bob Saf, director of McCook's special education program, said the district's preschoolers will move into their new classrooms at McCook Elementary most likely in April. Saf said he is waiting for the removal of the three modular classrooms and for more cement to be poured before making the transition to the new school.

McCook's alternative education program -- called "LIFT," "Learning Independently for Tomorrow" -- will move to the SPED center next fall. The program has been located in a rented building on the corner of West Fourth and B since its inception eight years ago.

It is possible that, with the move to the North Highway 83 location, McCook's LIFT program and the alternative education program conducted by Educational Service Unit No. 15 -- "STEP," "Success through Educational Partnerships" -- will be combined.

Jeff Gross, coordinator of McCook's LIFT program, said LIFT focuses on McCook high school students who are at risk of not graduating. Gross said the program is not a college prep course, but is designed to meet minimum requirements for graduation.

He said that three of four LIFT students are successfully completing the program and earning their high school diplomas, and many of those have gone on to college.

Brent McMurtrey, director of the ESU, said STEP is available to students from any of the high schools within the ESU area and focuses on "credit recovery," on returning students to their own schools and their regular classrooms so they can graduate with their classmates.

Some students, however, have completed their graduation credits within the STEP program, McMurtrey said, as LIFT students do.

"I believe that all students are better off somewhere than nowhere," McMurtrey said, "and better off with a diploma than without one."

STEP is six years old and is located in classroom facilities in the former convent in the 1200 block of West Fourth in McCook.

The STEP program utilizes a computer program called "Nova Net" to teach its students, rather than the school books used by the LIFT program. McMurtrey said the ESU would share Nova Net if the two programs were combined.

Gross told board members he can see a need for the computer program, which provides science and lab experiences and higher-level math classes, which are not available at LIFT.

McMurtrey said that coordinating the two programs is a great opportunity to share resources.

Gross said McCook's students who are suspended from regular classes could attend class at the LIFT-STEP center, and work on homework and concentrate on learning social skills in a school setting rather than being sent home.

Gross said a combination LIFT and STEP would include 25 to 30 students. Out-of-school suspension involves an average of one to two students a month, he said.

McMurtrey said that while the two programs have different philosophies, they can share classroom space, resources and staffing. Board member Jim Coady was impressed that the two programs' distinct differences are meeting the different needs of students. " ... looks like a good project to me," Coady said.

McCook Superintendent Dr. Don Marchant called the cooperation a "win-win" situation for McCook, the ESU and the students. He said the cooperation can be handled with a written agreement, as McCook is already a member of the ESU.