Swimming Pools and School Lunch

Swimming Pools

If you've driven by the high school recently, you probably noticed our large excavation with quite a bit of water in it.  I've heard from several community members joking about the new swimming pool in our project.  Seriously, as I've mentioned before we knew there was a lot of water in this location and many people referred to it as being a "Swamp" before it was a school.  This week, Baker Excavating has been working on installing a tile system that will be located well below the bottom floor of the building to take care of any water in the area.  In other words, they are "draining the swamp."  This will keep it well below the building floor and minimize moisture in the building.

When the contractors eventually start work on the building, they will be placing additional tile lines immediately under the floor to capture any water that gets close.  This will prevent or minimize any moisture issues in our new building like we have in the current high school.  It's great to see the progress happening.  In the current high school, we run dehumidifiers constantly at certain times of the year to capture the excess moisture in the lower part of the building.  With the preparation and tiling in the new building that shouldn't be necessary. 

School Lunch

As you know there are many rules and regulations in running a school lunch program and I'm pleased to tell you our program is in compliance with all of them.  However, one thing I wanted to take a moment to discuss was the National School Lunch Program.  This program is what helps us provide low cost and sometimes free meals to students whose family meets the income requirements.  I wanted to mention though that the benefit to the district can be much greater.  Often times, there are grants and other programs available to districts based on the number of students who receive free or reduced lunches.  In other words, the more students we have on free/reduced lunch the more access we have to funding and programs to benefit our students.  This is beneficial to the district in so many ways.  

I know that personal feelings and pride can sometimes get in the way of applying for free/reduced lunches, but it really does benefit the district and we work hard to maintain the confidentiality of all of those who qualify.  Each child has the same ticket and gets the same lunch in the same way as their classmates no matter if they are full pay, reduced pay, or free.  Other students don't know and most staff don't know.  You and your child's privacy are important to us.  Below are the income guidelines:  

If you think your family may qualify and you haven't applied yet, please consider applying.  It will greatly benefit the district and we will keep your status and information confidential.  You may access the application here.  The directions can found here.  You may also contact our Food Service Director Jodi Cerwinske at 641-394-2134 and she can answer any questions and assist you in completing the application.