Lots of upgrades are coming to the De Soto School District.
The De Soto Board of Education decided, in four 4-0 votes, on June 17 to spend a total of about $92,500 on a variety of summer improvements projects, including the purchase of equipment to create a weight room at the junior high school and a new paint job for the junior high gym, as well as new kitchen equipment and new flooring for buildings around the district.
Superintendent Josh Isaacson said work will begin within the next couple of weeks and be completed before the start of the 2021-2022 school year, which is slated for Wednesday, Aug. 25.
Board members Beverly Wilson, Tarrole Milfeld and Elaine Gannon were absent from the meeting.
Weight equipment
The board awarded a nearly $24,000 contract to Bigger Faster Stronger Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah, for weightlifting equipment that will be used to create a weight room at De Soto Junior High.
BFS submitted the second lowest of three bids for the equipment, but school officials said it was the best bid because it included six hours of professional development for the junior high and high school coaches to become certified weight instructors.
The new weight room will occupy approximately half of the old cafeteria on the lower level of the school and will share space with a classroom.
The new equipment includes seven of each of the following: weight racks, incline benches, Olympic bars and bumper weight sets.
In addition, the district will spend approximately $3,000 not included in the bid for nearly 1,600 square feet of rubber flooring for the weight room, which will be installed by district activities director Jon Roop and other staff members.
Roop said the new weight room and new equipment is needed because De Soto athletes are currently at a disadvantage to other schools they compete against.
“Our junior high athletes are not given an adequate opportunity to take true strength and conditioning courses,” Roop said in his proposal requesting the equipment. “In the large school division of the JCAA conference, De Soto Junior High School is the only middle/junior high school that does not offer strength and conditioning courses to middle school-aged students.”
Board president Jeffrey Russell agreed the equipment is a good investment.
“This is something we’ve needed for our junior high kids,” Russell said. “Our kids have lagged behind in this area compared to those around us.”
Junior high strength training classes are currently limited to approximately 40 students for one class per week.
The new room will allow more space for P.E. classes, reduce wait time between competitions and allow students to be more active during class, Roop said.
The anticipated completion date for the project is Aug. 8.
Paint for gym
The board accepted a $11,145 bid from Smith Pro Painting in Maryland Heights to paint the junior high gym.
The company submitted the lowest of two bids for the work, which will include prep and paint of the walls, hollow metal frames, doors and handrails in the gym. Caulk repairs to a crack on the west wall also is included in the project.
No work on the stage area is included.
The walls will receive a coat of white paint instead of the current cream color, and the green on the walls will be lowered by a few blocks, Isaacson said.
After the painting is finished, school officials plan to move championship banners down from the rafters and affix them to the walls instead.
Kitchen equipment
The board voted to spend nearly $38,800 on new kitchen equipment to be installed across the district.
The district did not seek bids for the kitchen equipment and will buy it from WebstaurantStore, an online restaurant supply company based in Lititz, Pa.
Isaacson said old equipment was breaking down and in need of replacement.
“We have numerous things that have been fixed multiple times,” he said. “Some of these items, they’re from the 1970s or older. So, they’ve been fixed, and we’re past the point of fixing them because they’re just worn out.”
The new kitchen equipment includes a stand-up freezer for the district’s early childhood center, $1,749; three warmers – two for Athena Elementary and one for De Soto High, $1,699 each; a sandwich warmer for the high school, $4,924; two milk coolers for Vineland Elementary, $1,899 each; and an oven/stove combination for Athena Elementary, $6,710.
The district also will purchase a freezer unit for the high school, which will come directly from the manufacturer and must be installed with a crane. The total cost of the item and installation is $16,520.80.
“The unit itself is just worn out,” Isaacson said. “The roof is beyond repair. The foundation of it is rotted, and we’re storing foodstuffs in there, so we want to make sure we have something that is up to the standards we expect.”
The district plans to reuse working parts from the old unit, Isaacson said.
Flooring
The board awarded an $18,579 contract to Commercial Flooring Inc. in St. Louis to supply and install flooring at the Dragon Annex and junior high choir room.
The district contacted three companies for bids, and Commercial Flooring Inc. was the only one to submit one for the project.
The annex flooring will cost $13,445, and the choir room flooring will be $5,134.
Floor preparation, removal of old flooring, new vinyl baseboards, vinyl planks and carpet tiles are included in the bid.
The floors in both locations are in disrepair, Isaacson said.
“The (choir room) floor underneath is coming up, and it’s non-toxic, but the floor looks terrible,” he said in the meeting. “The carpet (in the annex) is pretty worn out.”