From left are Troy Turley, Elizabeth Turley, Audrey Turley and Lewis Turley. Elizabeth was sworn in as a new member of the school board of trustees on Monday, Jan. 9.

WARSAW — The three Warsaw Board of School Trustees, Jay Baumgartner, Randy Polston and Elizabeth Turley, who ran in the election this past November were sworn in during the Warsaw Community School Board Meeting on Monday, Jan. 9.

Baumgartner and Polston have already served on the board. This will be Turley’s first term as she is replacing Curt Hermann.

The board unanimously voted to make Heather B. Reichenbach the president and Matt Dick the vice president of the board of the school trustees.

Mandy Duncan and Megan Smith requested out-of-state travel to go to the national reading conference in Columbus, Ohio. The conference will focus on K-6 grade literacy and leadership in literacy. The goal is to provide an opportunity for individuals to deepen their knowledge in literacy from knowledgeable individuals The total cost of the trip will be $1,759.

Dirk Felger, director of buildings and grounds for WCS, mentioned they had received bids to get rid of asbestos and mercury at the old Lincoln Elementary School. The bids were to remove the flooring in the gym. Underneath the wood flooring of the gym is rubber, which contains mercury and asbestos.

Felger explained no one has been exposed to the mercury and asbestos in the flooring and it is not cause for concern, however, the removal of the flooring is essential in order to demolish the building properly.

The low bid for the removal of the asbestos was $49,000. The low bid for the removal of the mercury was $145,000.

Felger mentioned an online auction company will be coming through the old Lincoln Elementary Building, looking for outdated equipment that can be sold. This will occur after teachers have completely vacated their classrooms.

Other News:

• The board approved the request to replace 10 school buses. Costs for four of the buses will be covered by insurance.
• During the personnel report, Jeanine Corson mentioned the schools continue to have a lot of job openings. She added they will be putting more of a focus on the recruiting side of things.
• The board looked at plans for the renovation of the school cafeterias.