At the their June 16 meeting, the Kingsland School Board thanked the Kingsland Athletic Booster Club (KABC) for their generous donations of $20,000 for the athletic fields maintenance and $130,000 to build a new football field crow’s nest.
“That is for the football field, the softball field (located on the school’s property) and baseball field. The football field needs to be crowned, which is putting a consistent slope in it so the water runs away from the middle of the field. The baseball (and softball) fields are just the opposite. They need to be leveled so there aren’t dips in it. That way if you hit a ground ball it doesn’t hit a dip and go flying. That would entail bringing in some soil and reseeding,” Klavetter said.
O’Connell Excavating, of Spring Valley, has graciously offered to donate their labor and will only charge for the cost of materials. There are volunteers who offered their time to help with maintenance after the project is complete.
“Its kind of a community project. It is work that needs to be done and we’ve had several community members who have stepped up,” Klavetter told the board.
The $20,000 will cover approximately two-thirds of the project’s cost.
The board then heard about the $130,000 donation toward a potential crow’s nest project.
“This is something members of the booster club have brought to the school district a few different times over the last few years,” Klavetter shared. “We know the doors and windows need to be replaced. The siding has been blown off twice since my time as superintendent, so something needs to be done whether it be significant repairs or replacement.”
According to Klavetter, the booster club would like to see a crow’s nest with suites providing areas for people to sit and that style of crow’s nest is what the donation is based upon. The example the club showed the board was the crow’s nest in Chatfield.
“Ultimately, if you as a board accept that donation then the school district would have to take ownership of actually seeing the construction through. I think with a donation that sizable its appropriate to at least ask for some input along the way, but it would be done by the school district,” Klavetter stated.
Concerns were expressed about spending a large sum of money on a project such as this when the district may see changes in funding over the next few years. It was noted the project would be fully funded by donations.
“We all acknowledge we want our facility and outdoor spaces that people drive by daily to look presentable and be a source of pride for the community, but how much do we put into a crow’s nest? Knowing you have a donation that would build it fully funded comes into play,” Klavetter said.
Klavetter noted if suites were part of the project they could rent them out during games as part of a fundraiser.
Any projects for the football field would be completed after the 2025 season concludes.
The board approved both donations.
Facility and Maintenance
“We did a walk-through with the general contractor and the architects,” Klavetter shared. “And now that we know results of the main election we need to finalize the scope of what did pass because that work needs to move forward.”
During the walk-through it was recommended the district spend “very little” on the locker rooms, according to Klavetter.
“The primary reason is because they said you can’t do enough to them to make them work. They said its a case where either you’re going to spend a lot of money or very little there isn’t really a middle ground because once you start tearing into things it becomes a new construction and you are obligated to meet all of the current Americans Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements,” Klavetter explained.
According to a work summary by ICS Consulting Inc., the safety setup has been completed and roofing the cafeteria, the kitchen and the loading dock has begun. The installation of the membrane has been completed in all of these areas. Workers will soon be laying rock over the membranes, they will then move onto dock B and the music and science classrooms.
Budget
“We are going to have to do a revised budget earlier this year than we have in other years because the state just finished their work. There are a lot of details that will need to be figured out, there’s negotiations that need to be done with our largest group, which is our teachers, so there will be adjustments. This is our best guess,” Klavetter said.
Statutes require the district adopt a budget before July 1, so to follow protocol the board will adopt the revised budget, but review it again after the audit is complete.
“What got through the state is not a lot of sunshine and roses. They are kind of taking money from the left pocket and moving it to the right pocket,” Klavetter said. “There was a 2.74 increase on the formula, but that money was found by taking it from other places, so it’s not exactly new money.”
Kingsland Business Manager Julie Schreiber said of the general fund, “For the revised budget we were at about $8.2 million and now we are at $8 million so that is about $192,000 lost.
With the loss in revenue and an increase of $390,000 in expenses, the district may have to look to their reserve funds and unreserved funds.
The end of the year project balance is estimated to be $11,239,06, which is a decrease of $5,198,132. Much of this is due to the projected construction costs in 2026 to be $4,771,946.
“Budgets are the best that we can come up with based on the information we have. It is going to look different when we revise it because we’ll have our audited numbers,” Schreiber concluded.
Klavetter told the board not to be discouraged, “The district has planned well over the last several years, so this is not something we can’t figure out. Lest anyone be concerned, the district is in a good spot financially and has been smart and that goes back before our time, too, the district has a long history of that.”
The board approved the preliminary revised budget.
Other Business
The board approved the first reading of the 2025-2026 Preschool through 12 handbooks, the K-12 staff handbooks, School Age Child Care (SACC) handbooks and SACC staff policies and procedures handbook.
Klavetter was named as the designated identified official with authority for the 2025-2026 school year.
The board approved a call for milk and fuel bids. The bids will be reviewed and awarded in July.
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