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District to Continue Leasing Office Space

Posted on: Friday, 14 October 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Russ Keen, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Oct. 14--The Aberdeen school district will lease space for its district offices for at least another year.

The school board voted 5-1 this week to renew the lease with Dacotah Bank for District Service Center offices at 314 S. Main St. The one-year lease goes into effect Saturday, and will cost the district $51,139.50. That compares to $49,650 for the lease year that ends Friday.

Duane Alm, Mike Miller, Brad Olson, Brian Sharp and Scott Wirth voted yes. Bob Nikolas voted no. Linda Burdette was absent. Nikolas is a longtime advocate of moving district offices into a school or schools.

The board is considering incorporating the offices into Simmons Middle School, and is reviewing several options for upgrading and adding onto the middle school at 1300 S. Third St.

Dacotah Bank has told the district it will likely use at least some of the leased space on South Main Street for bank expansion. The lease approved this week includes a provision that the district's tenancy can continue on a month-by-month basis after Oct. 15, 2006, for a monthly rent of $4,389.47. Either party may terminate the month-by-month agreement by giving 30 days notice. The district's previous leases for the office space were multi-year.

Also this week, the board:

-- Reviewed the district's official fall enrollment, which is the number the state will use for its purpose. K-12 enrollment is 3,680, compared to 3,641, the official number a year ago.

-- On 6-0 votes, approved first readings of various minor policy revisions.

-- Discussed road construction scheduled for spring on 24th Avenue Northeast, which runs along the north side of Holgate Middle School. The construction will affect access to Holgate from the north before school dismisses for the summer, said Superintendent Gary Harms.

Construction cannot wait until school is out because officials want avenue upgrades completed in time for the 2006 Brown County Fair. Olson suggested the city schedule a public forum to discuss safety and access to Holgate during construction.

-- Discussed the pros and cons of belonging to ESD Plus Six, a lobbying organization for the state's largest school districts. The Aberdeen district's annual dues are $2,100.

Issues include whether the group's lobbyist has interests that conflict with the organization, and whether the group gives the lobbyist clear directions as to their expectations.

-- Heard a report on activities at C.C. Lee Elementary School.

-- Voted 6-0 to approve contracts with Julie Christy for .72-time position as speech/language pathologist at Lincoln Elementary School, with Tami Jung for addition of .34-time for Web master assignment, and with Rebecca Burrell as full-time business teacher.

-- Voted 6-0 to approve public school exemption certificates for six students.

-- Voted 6-0 to approve donations of $20,000 from Northwestern Energy for Clark Swisher Activities Complex, of $5,000 from Aberdeen Gymnastics Association for gymnastics floor, and of $1,435.61 from Target Take Charge of Education program to fund software maintenance on Central High School's message system.

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To see more of the American News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.aberdeennews.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

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