A large amount of funds could be made available for Galesburg’s School District 205 as part of a state-level grant for school building projects.
Galesburg Superintendent Dr. John Asplund, who is part of the committee recommending the rules for grant funding, says the district is trying to stay flexible in case these funds become available.
The committee that Asplund is a part of will create rules for schools to follow when applying for the grant funds.
Dr. Asplund said that the district is in the same position as a lot of other districts in the state, being awarded funds and never receiving them. He says the project at the high school isn’t stopping as the district tries to pursue those additional funds.
“Yes, it is true that we are continuing to look for ways to ask for money from the state. That doesn’t mean we are stopping the project at the high school,” Asplund told the gallery at the Monday night meeting. There are too many wheels in motion to already for us to completely stop. But, we’re looking for any avenue that we can to try to access state funds.”
“And know that we are trying to keep ourselves flexible so that we can make a decision based on the best decision at that time. And I want to make sure that we’re clear, cause I’ve heard some of this talk out there, ‘well if you knew that this money was there why’d you start the project?’ well we didn’t. We didn’t know this money was available. Nobody did. When we started this a year ago this money wasn’t anything. This was a bill that was put in last spring. And at the time when it was first discussed, it was only for higher education. Then they added in K-12 education later on. ”
Asplund adds that there wouldn’t be answers on the state’s plans until May, saying that until the board accepts final bids the district has the flexibility to change plans.
On the subject of renovation work, the district approved the high school kitchen renovation bids for a total sum of over $3,215,939. The kitchen at the high school is being doubled in size to accommodate the production of all of the food in the district. Currently, GHS, Churchill, and Lombard have production kitchens for the district.
Additional bids were approved for Epoxy Flooring at King Elementary, and the bid specs for the modular classrooms electrical service at Monday night’s meeting.
