Federal stimulus money could give the Minot Public School District an opportunity to address space issues at some of its school buildings, said Supt. David Looysen Tuesday.

The school district is set to receive a supplemental one-time grant of $5.956 million, which can be spent, among other things, on building improvement or building additions. The school board gave Looysen the go-ahead to proceed with hiring an architect for projects at Edison and Sunnyside elementaries and Jim Hill and Erik Ramstad middle schools. Looysen wants to do away with portable classrooms, many of which date back to the 1960s, at Sunnyside and at Jim Hill and Ramstad. He proposes building six new classrooms at Jim Hill and two new classrooms at Ramstad, as well as adding a new gymnasium at Ramstad. At Sunnyside he proposes building six new classrooms along with a handicapped accessible bathrom, and adding a new commons/foyer area in the center of the building to separate the gymnasium from the lunchroom. He also wants to add an elevator which would reach all levels of the building. Looysen said the school district would need to obtain a building easement change from the city, which would probably require moving a storm sewer near the building a bit to the west. Looysen said he's working on getting the easement. At Edison Elementary he wants to build a new gymnasium. The old gymnasium in the elementary would be turned into a lunchroom for students. The scale of the projects will depend on the bid proposals, said Looysen.

Board members approved the building proposals unanimously.

The board voted 3-1 to give Looysen approval to use some of the stimulus money for a high school track improvement. The track is six lanes, but the district needs to add two additional lanes if it hopes to keep getting regional and state track meets in Minot, said Looysen. Board president Nancy Langseth, board vice president Jackie Velk, and board member Jim Rostad all gave their approval; board member Roger Kluck voted against it. Board member Laura Mihalick was not present at the meeting. Kluck wanted to hold off on the track improvement because he thought it might signal to the public that the board is not in favor of the community bowl project under discussion. Langseth, Velk, and Rostad said they do favor the community bowl project but feel that improving the track is what is best for the Minot Public Schools and they think they can support both. Looysen said the federal stimulus dollars could not be used to support the community bowl project.

Prior to the board meeting Tuesday, the school board held a work session to discuss the community bowl project, which Minot voters voted down last year. This is a second attempt to gain support for the concept. Minot State University athletic director Rick Hedberg, who sits on the committee, said architectural fees for phases one and two of the project cost $215,000. Anderson, Wade, and Whitty PC have been hired as the architects. They want to place the community bowl near the MSU Dome, north of the existing football field. It would include a bubble dome that would enable sporting events or practices to be held in adverse weather.

The first phase, estimated to cost $1.2 million, would involve demolition of the field, track, and stadium, which would start in late October, and earthwork to level fields and putting utilities in place, which would be completed in April 2010, according to the proposal. The second phase of the project, which would cost an estimated $1.8 million, would begin in May 2010 and would involve adding artificial turf, laying a track and putting in temporary seating of up to 3,000. It would be completed in August 2010. The third phase of the project would require a vote of the community, which Hedberg said would come a few years from now. Hedberg said funding would come from Minot State and he hopes from community partners, such as the Minot Public Schools, Minot Catholic Schools, the City of Minot, and Ward County.

Velk said she supports the community bowl and thinks Minot State might be the best location for it, but wanted it on the record that Minot Public School board members were not interviewed about the location of the community bowl as is said in the material released by the committee. She thinks the decision had been made to locate the community bowl at Minot State before the community bowl committee started meeting. Kluck, who is also director of facilities at Minot State University, sits on the committee along with Looysen. The committee included representatives from other government and school organizations. Board members said they support the concept and think it would be good for Minot. Hedberg said the committee hopes to attract athletic tournaments with a community bowl. The city lost the state wrestling meet because it couldn't provide eight mats.

Langseth said she doubts Minot will be able to attract some events while competing with Bismarck, even with the community bowl, though she believes the community bowl will be of benefit to the whole community.

Langseth said she also would not agree to commit holding Minot High School football games in the community bowl because she prefers the Minot High stadium for high school football games.

Also at Tuesday's board meeting, board members agreed to a policy limiting open enrollment in cases where a school building or program is overcrowded or at capacity. Looysen said Washington Elementary will have a couple of extra classrooms when school starts this fall and can no longer accept new open enrollees. Jim Hill is also in much the same position. There is a great deal of growth in southeast Minot, he said.

Also at Tuesday's school board meeting, board members gave conditional approval to contracts with the Minot Administrators Association or Minot Education Association, contingent on those unions ratifying the negotiated contracts. Board members also approved spending $50,000 to implement a "look alike Title I program" at Bell Elementary this fall. Bell no longer has enough students who qualify for free and reduced price lunches to qualify for the federal Title I program, which provides funding for programs such as reading tutors. The Minot Public Schools is funding reading coaches for other non-Title I schools this fall to provide those schools with much the same services as the Title I elementaries receive. Looysen said they will probably look at doing the same sort of thing with Bell after this year.

The school district failed to make adequate yearly progress on standardized tests under the federal No Child Left Behind law this year. That means the district must spend 10 percent of its Title I funding on professional development for teachers. The law is set up so schools must show continued improvement every year both overall and in subgroups of students such as those with disabilities, those from low income families, and students from minority groups. Eventually all schools will fail to make AYP under the law and will have to follow the standards of program improvement.