BGM stage lights up with new equipment

After more than 40 years, some new lights will blind the stage at BGM Community Schools.

At the BGM School Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10, board members approved a bid from Lifeline Amplification Systems to install new stage and house lighting.

According to Superintendent Brad Hohensee, the bid was broken down into two parts. The first part of the bid included installation of equipment, engineering of electrical schematics and the approval of the electrical system. “Lifeline won’t actually install the electric system,” said Hohensee. “They will engineer it and they will approve what we have installed.”

According to Hohensee, the school has an in-house electrician who can handle the installation of the electrical system. Hohensee said the approximate cost for the equipment installation and electrical engineering will be $23,985.

“I was hoping for the cost to be $25,000, so I was pleased with the estimate,” said Hohensee.

The second part of the bid included the light fixtures. Hohensee said six front house lights need to be replaced at $400 a piece. There are also 16 backhouse lights that need to be replaced at $200.

All the lights will be controlled by a wall switch or five preset switches to turn on and off certain banks of lights.

Hohensee said there would also be a 24-program dimmer that can be used during performances.

The approximate cost for the lights and dimmer is $5,782. The project will be paid for with SILO funds.

Board member Arlene Ford asked if Hohensee had received any other bids for the project. Hohensee said that he approached Lifeline based on recommendations from other schools and because Lifeline is the only company that can finish the project within the projected timeframe.

According to Hohensee, Lifeline recently finished the lighting for Comanche High School. Hohensee spoke to the principal of Comanche, who said he was very pleased with the work and professionalism of the company. Currently, Lifeline is working on a lighting project at Clear Creek Amana.

Hohensee said the lights needed to be fixed before the start of concert and drama season as well. “Even thought Lifeline will finish within the timeframe, it’s still going to be very tight,” he said.

Once the lights have been installed, Hohensee said the drama and music students would be trained on how to operate the lights. Lifeline provides a training video that can be used.

“I think it’s long overdue since those have been replaced and we need to get it done as soon as we can,” said Ford.

The board unanimously approved the bid.

STAFF SHARING

According to Superintendent Hohensee, the State of Iowa is offering school districts financial incentives to share staff.

The school districts would receive money from the state for sharing services. The board considered approval for the sharing of maintenance/operations services with Grinnell-Newburg School District and a sharing agreement with South Tama School District to share transportation/operation services. According to Hohensee, the school could receive roughly $55,000 from the state for sharing operations with other school districts. But, if the state money is cut, the school districts could void the agreement and would be able to purchase time on an as a needed basis.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

In an attempt to further unify BGM Community Schools, Hohensee said a new kindergarten through 12th grade newsletter would be handed out each month.

“Instead of doing a separate newsletter for each school, we will put out one newsletter,” said Hohensee.

TAG students and Bear Facts newspaper staff will put the newsletter together. The newsletter will be sent home with elementary school children and also be available at various locations throughout the community.

“The kids are really excited about putting this together,” said Hohensee.

The school board approved the second reading of the following board policies: fixed assets; regulations governing family and medical leave for employees with members in the service; policies that affect conflicts of interest; policies that affect the wellness program; policiesthat affect changes in election rules; and policies that affect tax sheltered annuities; policies that affect special education.

 

UPDATED September 15, 2009 1:12 PM