The Kewanee School Board met Monday in the Chris Sullens Meeting Room at the school district’s administrative headquarters on North Main Street. The board has moved its meetings from Petersen Auditorium at Kewanee High School, where they had been held for the past several years. [Photo by Michael Berry]

Three major school construction projects that will cost nearly a million and a half dollars in all were approved at Monday’s Kewanee School Board meeting.

While school officials hope the district won’t have to bear the total cost of the work, the board also approved a $510,000 working-cash bond issue to make sure there is enough money on hand to pay the school district’s share.

The projects are:

— Repairs to the roof at Kewanee High School caused when the July 15 windstorm tore solar panels off the roof.

— Repairs for similar damage to the roof at Central School.

— Replacing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the kitchen and cafeteria at Central School.

The roofing job at KHS will cost $627,000, and at Central the cost is $436,000.

School officials have been in discussions with the district’s architect, the company that installed the solar panels and an insurance company about paying for the repairs.

Supt. Rebecca Baney said Monday that insurance claims have been made for both roof jobs. And she said school officials are hoping that the solar company will pay some of the cost.

The low bid for the HVAC job at Central, which will have to be borne by the school district, was $379,850 — considerably more than school officials were expecting when the need to replace the system was first discussed several years ago.

Also Monday:

— Baney reported that the project of installing solar panels on school-owned property behind Belle Alexander School is “still in the works,” but it met with an unexpected delay. The permit application for the job was rejected by the Henry-Stark Regional Office of Education, which sent it back to the engineering firm handling the job.

— Another project involving an HVAC system, this one in Petersen Auditorium at Kewanee High, was approved. For this job, the district will be able to apply for a $50,000 school maintenance project grant.

The board also approved a number of personnel moves:

Resignations of Lacey Jackson as Central sixth grade teacher, Arely Hernandez as English as a second language teacher at Belle and Laurel Keys as KHS FFA adviser were accepted.

Also accepted were the retirements of Joanne Bennett as a third-grade teacher at Irving School and Julie Golby as a sixth-grade math teacher at Central. Both will be effective at the end of the 2027-28 school year.

Hired were:

Carley Klavohn to succeed Stephanie Johnson as family and consumer science teacher at KHS;

Joseph David Armstrong to a new position of KHS automotive and industrial arts teacher effective Nov. 4; 

Leanne Walsh to succeed Maria Fragoso as payroll and human resources assistant; 

Loyal Brown and Jackie Clucas as assistant girls basketball coaches at KHS;

Jenny Edwards to succeed Chase Palm as KHS girls track head coach;

Katie Bartok to the new position of competitive music director at KHS;

Brock Blessman to the new position of adviser to the chess club at Central Junior High;

Ryan Hansen to succeed Tatum Drury as girls basketball coach at Neponset;

Lydia Kidd to succeed Arely Hernandez as an aide at Belle Alexander; and

Korbin Fortney Kidd and Hailey Lampers to the KHS student event staff.

Student teachers hired were Chasity Hall at Belle and Carley Klavohn at KHS.

The board approved the transfers of Laurel Keyt from KHS ag teacher to Central alternative teacher and Rayanne Busboom from part-time paraprofessional at Belle to English as a second language paraprofessional and aide at Belle.

Jospeh David Armstrong was approved as a volunteer for the KHS bowling team.