Plains school board consider new boiler options

PLAINS – During their meeting last week, the Plains school board opened discussions on updating the building’s heating systems as well as a special trip for some of the students. 

The idea of purchasing a new boiler heating system for the high school buildings was brought before the board. Thom Chisholm, superintendent of the Plains schools, noted the current unit is fairly old and could potentially break down in the near future. He felt it would be best to take steps to fix it sooner rather than wait and risk it having problems during the depths of winter.

“We have the means to do it now and if we don’t, we’d probably be making a serious mistake,” he said.

Bill Hayen gave an update to the board on the current condition of the building’s heating system. The members will review the maintenance records, history and overall performance of the current boiler as well as deciding how to proceed.

This was only a preliminary discussion of the idea and no action was needed. In the coming months, the board will discuss it further and devise an action plan for how to proceed. The plan will bring about a cost-effective means of replacing and updating the current boiler system, classroom heaters as well as the thermostats.

The board also approved a motion to send the second grade classes to Missoula to see The Nutcracker ballet in January.

Specifics have not been determined, but Chisholm expected the teachers would create an educational connection to their course work; this year, the second graders have been learning science through an arts integration program.

“I’m sure they’ll spend some time briefing the kids about what the ballet is, why The Nutcracker is a seasonal favorite, history of Tchaikovsky and stuff like that,” Chisholm said.

He recalled the kids have been bouncing off the walls at the idea of the trip. Normally, the school waits to hold their field trips until closer to the end of the year, so a trip in the middle of the year is a special opportunity for them.

The money for the field trip will come from a portion of the school’s McGowan Foundation Funds. The funds have been specifically earmarked for these kinds of activities.

There was no school board meeting held in October, due to a very limited agenda with no real action items. The board decided to cancel the meeting and hold the updates for this month’s meeting.