It’s been a busy summer for the Iola school district’s maintenance crew.
They moved out of four buildings — three elementary schools and fifth grade at the middle school — and into one new building just days before the start of school.
They also cleared out useful items from the former science building and cafeteria before it was demolished.
They also set up a new automotive center at the Rural Regional Technological Center at LaHarpe.
And if that wasn’t enough, they also performed some general maintenance and made various improvements across the district.
Aaron Cole, maintenance director, gave USD 257 board members an update at Monday’s meeting.
The summer was mostly spent moving, he said.
It started with moving things out of the old science building, which has since been demolished. Anything that could be salvaged was saved.
That included kitchen cabinets, countertops, an old oven and refrigerator. Those things were moved to a family and consumer sciences classroom at Iola Middle School, where they can be used to teach life skills like sewing, cooking and proper dining etiquette, for example.
Crews also did the same kind of salvage work at the three elementary schools (Lincoln, Jefferson and McKinley) by taking out smart boards that were moved to Iola High School. The same happened with water bottle filling stations, which were moved to water fountains at IHS that didn’t have them.
Lockers were moved from McKinley to replace half-sized lockers at IMS. They’ll need to be repainted, Cole said.
Speakers and wireless access points in elementary school classrooms were installed at the new building.
Also at the middle school, they moved fifth grade classrooms to the elementary school and reconfigured the space. A wall was removed, creating a large classroom out of two smaller ones for music classes taught by Elizabeth Cunningham.
Even with moving out the fifth grade classes, most of those rooms have already been put to good use, IMS Principal Brad Crusinbery told the board. Only one room is vacant, and it is being used for storage. Others are being used by elementary school teachers who travel to IMS in the mornings to teach electives, such as an IES art teacher who offers a photography class for middle school students.
COLE and others also recapped the big move to the new elementary school.
Crews had just a couple of weeks to move, and it was an “all-hands-on-deck” situation. Board members, faculty, teachers and even family members were called in to help.
