Belle Alexander School will be getting a new boiler, following action Monday by the Kewanee School Board.
The board approved paying $203,750 to purchase the boiler and have it installed.
The boiler will be made by Aldrich Company of Wyoming, and installed by a Peoria firm, Supt. Dr. Chris Sullens said.
Sullens said the new boiler will replace the Kewanee Boiler installed in the school when it was built in the mid-1950s.
When the original boiler was installed, he said, the boiler room had been partially built. The boiler was trucked in and installed, and then the room around it was completed.
Removing the oid boiler and installing the replacement may be a more complicated task, Sullens said. He said installation is scheduled during spring break, and the new boiler will be ready go for the 2023-24 heating season.
In other action:
–The board approved the purchase of some Chromebook computers from a different vendor.
Sullens said the computers originally purchased didn’t meet the district’s specifications, and have been returned to the first vendor.
— Sullens told the board that thanks to the quadrennial property reassessments, the district’s total assessed valuation has increased around 10 percent. That should mean a corresponding increase in the district’s allocation of property taxes.
He said the assessed valuation in the Henry County portion of the district is up 10.4 percent, and it’s up 9.1 percent in Bureau County.
Sullens said the increase was due to the fact that Kewanee real estate “has been a hot market for people who were sellers.”
The school district should see another increase in tax revenue when new wind turbines that have been constructed west of Kewanee finally start operating, Sullens said.
— In a departure from the recent past, the state of Illinois seems to have gotten better at paying its bills.
Sullens said state aid payments have been coming in as expected. “For the most part, we are getting paid in a timely manner,” he said.
— The new Cernovich Field House in the football stadium is nearing completion.
Sullens said the final inspection of the structure should be done soon.
The project has been “delayed by supply chain issues,” he said.
Final inspections should also be done soon for the recent expansion at Belle Alexander. Sullens said this will enable the full use of the new space.
— The board approved the purchase of equipment for a new “fast line” in the high school cafeteria. The new line will allow students to quickly pick up a sandwich or other food item, without having to wait in a long line for their lunch.
— The board also directed the administration to advertise for two new coaches each for boys and girls fifth and sixth grade basketball.
