The Unified School District 428 School Board took another look at a proposed new gymnasium at Great Bend Middle School as it met there for its monthly luncheon meeting Tuesday.
Assistant Superintendent Dan Brungardt presented four floor plan options drawn up by Topeka-based district architects Horst, Terrill and Karst which included the new gym and a multi-purpose/wrestling room. One also included a tornado shelter.
The new gym would run parallel to the current gym, sitting to the west of it. They would share locker rooms and concession stands, and have access to the GBMS commons area.
Parking would not be impacted.
“It’s in need of an upgrade,” Brungardt said. It is just too small, and with the possibility of competitive seventh grade sports, a better facility is necessary.
He told the board the cost would be between $2.3 and about $2.8 million, depending on the inclusion of the shelter and other options. There would be no bond issue and the district has money set aside for the project.
However, some on the board asked if HTK was the best firm for the job and wondered about bidding out the work. HTK is the firm that handled the 1990s renovation of GBMS as well as the Panther Activities Center at Great Bend High School.
So, instead of meeting with the architects at the May 14 meeting, the board will discuss architectural services.
In other business:
• Approved door replacements at district facilities projects. They include: C. V. Cale Inc., doors/jambs at Riley Elementary School (1) for $2,610, Park Elementary School (1) for $2,497 and Washington School (three jambs/four doors) for $11,724.00; and Jimlo Glass Center Inc., handicap door features at Jefferson Elementary School (two plus power supplies) for $2,610.
• Approved the appointments of Paige Nowlan, music teacher at Jefferson, Amanda Wyatt, teacher at Park Elementary School, and Bethany Stoney, a Success for All teacher/tutor at Lincoln Elementary School.
• Approved resignations of Jamie Harrington, second-grade teacher of Eisenhower Elementary School, Dustin Klassen, physical education teacher at GBMS, and Andy Wesner, math teacher Great Bend High school.   
• GBMS Principal David Reiser and other staff members will share information regarding the academic programs and the school improvement efforts at the school. “We are in a transition here at the school,” Reiser said. This is true for the new school improvement plan in the works as well as the shift to the common core curriculum standards. They discussed the Reading Edge program, which helps about 10 percent of GBMS students get up to their grade level in reading, and a math grant which will fund training for teachers in a new teaching method. “We are really, really excited about this.”