Broseley — The Twin Rivers R-X Board of Education met last week to discuss the site and date of graduation, renovations to the baseball and softball fields and wi-fi upgrades.
The board consideredn and approved Black River Coliseum as the graduation site for next year. Superintendent Rob Brown said that a survey had been sent out to parents and students and 65% were in favor of utilizing the Poplar Bluff venue for the graduation ceremony.
For now, a graduation date is booked for Twin Rivers at Black River Coliseum and the school district will also inquire if the Friday before graduation is available at the venue for a practice date.
Renovations for the baseball and softball fields at the high school were also another agenda item discussed during the meeting.
School board member Lee Wright had completed his survey of the conditions of the fields and reported his findings during the meeting.
“We talked about bringing in several loads of sand,” Wright said.
The sand would cover up some of the holes and the slopes of the field to make it more playable. Another adjustment would be the demolition of the old concession stand which Superintendent Brown mentioned is slated for demolition.
In new business, the board touched upon wi-fi upgrades during the meeting.
“We have talked numerous times and on different occasions about how we desperately need a wi-fi upgrade throughout the district,” Brown said. “An opportunity came knocking this month through the direct program.”
Brown informed the board members that the school district is entitled to an upgrade as part of a grant program.
“We are eligible for $140,000 and we can upgrade if we spend all of the $140,000 on upgrading our wi-fi system district-wide,” he said.
A phone lease buyout program was also presented to board members, which they approved. A grant for a fitness and weight room was also discussed during the meeting.
During the superintendent’s report, Brown revealed concerns presented during a recent insurance inspection.
“They performed a walkthrough inspection and most of them were easy to handle with a quick trip to Menards,” he said. “One of the issues is with the retractable goals in the gym — they did not have safety straps on them. They (the insurance company) feel like the cable could give out any minute and could collapse onto the crowd, like in the bleachers.”
Brown did add that he sought out a bid just to get an idea of what the addition of the safety straps would be in cost.
“So this is all that we need to do to get our bleachers compliant,” Brown added.
Brown announced that the program Headstart would not bid on a real estate property. The rest of this discussion was behind closed doors during the executive session.
The next board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m Nov. 16.