The Unit 5 school board on Wednesday approved purchases that address busing and flooring needs.
The floor at Parkside Junior High was in need of unexpected repairs after a malfunctioning water fountain dumped 72,000 gallons of water overnight onto the wooden gymnasium floor. Aside from a $2,500 deductible, insurance will cover the estimated $129,460 replacement of the floor original to Parkside’s construction five decades ago.
“So in terms of cost to the district, it will be a very minimal cost for the amount of work that will be completed,” said board vice president Stan Gozur.
The new flooring will be ready to install either prior to or just after the start of the new school year. The Gerflor athletic surface will be installed by Bloomington-based Cushings’ Commercial Carpet, Inc. The flooring surface has an impact cushion beneath it, rating it favorably in terms of reducing injuries.
“It's a good opportunity to use this material on a junior high space for the type of traffic that we're going to receive,” said Gozur. “And it's something that we're seeing enter a lot of commercial spaces for recreation and high traffic areas, and so we're looking forward to seeing how it performs in this space.”
School bus purchase
The board also approved a $1.4 million purchase of 13 used school buses — eight standard, 71-passenger buses and five wheelchair lift-equipped buses are included in the purchase. Unit 5 will utilize working cash funds to make the purchase due to continued proration of transportation reimbursement.
The move eases a bus shortage Unit 5. Currently, there are only 142 buses to service 137 routes, with eight currently out of service with serious engine issues.
Superintendent Kristen Weikle said a 10% surplus is needed to be safe in case of maintenance needs. Lately, the school district has been forced to borrow buses from other First Student locations in those situations.
