MENTION — Talk of updates and construction issues at Akron Elementary dominated the discussion of the Tippencanoe Valley school board meeting on Monday, Oct. 10.

The board was given an update on how construction is going at Akron Elementary. The classroom area walls are now up and roofing will begin in a couple of weeks. Students were recently able to sign a beam that the crew was installing in the school. A teacher created a mural in the center of the beam.

The board heard about an issue of water filling the retention area. Near where the kids play outside is a “pond” holding a steady rate of six inches of water. The construction crew had hoped over the summer the water would dry up, instead the pond has consistently held six inches of water.

The current contract the school has with Skillman currently states that the contractors are to fill the pond with dirt and seed. Site manager of Skillman Brandons Wolfe stated if they decide to simply fill it with dirt, it will just become mud. He explained it will continue to retain the water and will make it difficult for individuals to mow in that area later on because the ground will be soggy.

The board was offered board three different options to solve this issue. The most expensive way to fix it is to fill the area with concrete, which would cost around $30,000. The second option to use riprap would be about half as expensive as the concrete option. The last option is to fill the pond with native seeding with plants indigenous to the area.

“I believe the best option would be riprap,” advised Wolf.

The board decided to leave the retention pond as it is for now. They decided to look into bids to us riprap to fill the retention pond.

The board approved a motion to accept policy changes that would allow homeschool students to participate in extracurricular activities.

The board unanimously approved the donations from Kosciusko REMC in the amount of $1,700 to plant trees at the high school and Teacher’s Credit Union in the amount of $1,000 for the distinguished alumni dinner and induction day. The board also unanimously approved the grants from K21 Health Foundation in the amount of $6,413 to begin a tower garden system and a grant from the K21 Foundation in the amount of $21,630 for the Tippecanoe Valley High School weight room equipment and expansion.

Special education teacher Cathie Olson gave the board a brief summary of the grants she had been able to receive with the help of Tippecanoe Valley’s director of marketing Cassie Jensen. Together, the two were able to procure $414.60 in donations from Akron and Mentone Kiwanis. The donations have gone towards an indoor swing for Olson’s students.

Other News

• The board approved the claims from Sept. 2 totaling $396,607.13, Sept. 16 totaling $400,261.69 and Sept. 30 totaling $395,597.76.
• The financial report stated that for September, the school has received a total of $1,560,448.83 for their funds. During September they dispersed a total of $2,363,130.43.