De Soto School District officials will have the option to restrict public access to the athletic fields behind the high school and junior high school once a gate is installed at the western entrance to the campus off Amvets Drive.
The district’s Board of Education has agreed to pay D and S Fencing in Festus $8,500 to install a custom-made gate off Amvets Drive. The company submitted the sole bid for the custom-made gate was from D and S Fencing in Festus.
Superintendent Josh Isaacson said the new gate is expected to be installed by Oct. 1.
The athletic complex currently has a gate at the eastern side, at West St. Louis Street, and the street that runs along the back of both of the secondary schools, Culwell Drive, is owned by the district and has two additional gates to limit traffic through the campus.
Currently, however, there’s no way to limit access on the western side.
“I’ve seen people walking the track at 10 p.m.,” Isaacson said. “Our campus always has been open to the community, and I have no problem in that regard.”
He said the story is different when there’s a good snowfall.
“The main reason to close the gate is to limit access to the campus when it snows,” he said. “It’s not a terrible thing for people to bring sleds and slide down the hills, but others bring ATVs and jump them all around, which is a liability issue.”
Isaacson said without the fourth gate, it’s impossible to close the back of the campus when it’s needed.
“We want to be able to close the campus when we want to close the campus,” he said.
Isaacson said even after the new gate is installed, walkers will be able to use the track.
“We just don’t want people driving through the campus during certain times,” including fire drills and when a building is evacuated and students and staff members are directed to the back of the buildings, he said.
Isaacson said emergency personnel will be able to open any of the gates if necessary.
“Even if they didn’t, they have things on their trucks so that this gate isn’t going to stop them,” he said.
Isaacson said he doesn’t anticipate the gate will be closed regularly once it’s installed.
“The administration at the schools should be able to have the flexibility to close it as it’s needed, though,” he said.
The gate will be paid for with money from the district’s safety and security fund.
De Soto Board of Education members voted unanimously June 21 to approve the expenditure for the gate.
Kitchen items to be added
The school board also voted unanimously June 21 to spend $30,410 on various supplies for its cafeterias.
Isaacson said the revenue from the district food services, which is operated by SFE, has been running in the black, particularly with reimbursements from the federal government during the pandemic, and the district needs to spend some of that surplus or risk having to repay the federal government.
Some of the equipment that will be added includes an ala carte open-air refrigerated station, a storage area and a stand-up freezer, all at the high school.
At the junior high, a counter to display ice cream will be added.
The larger items will be purchased from Ford Restaurant Supply in St. Louis.
Together, Athena and Vineland elementaries will get 408 reusable trays, which cost $7.98 each, for a total cost of $3,256.
Isaacson noted that the district has been using Styrofoam trays in those schools, but the price rose from 1 cent per tray before the pandemic to more than 7 cents now.
“Moving away from the Styrofoam trays also will reduce the amount of trash produced,” Isaacson said.
Additionally, Isaacson said, all four schools need to replace various worn small kitchen equipment, such as food storage containers, pizza pans and other cooking utensils.
The cost to buy those items from WebstaurantStore, an online restaurant supply site based in Lancaster, Pa., is $3,053.
In addition, an old dishwasher at the junior high will be replaced because it no longer functions properly.
All Type Service and Installation LLC of Hillsboro, which services the district’s kitchen equipment, will replace the dishwasher for $10,889.
Isaacson said in all cases, the district approved the lowest of three bids.