New carpet will begin to be installed at Chesterton High School during the week of spring break, March 24-28, as the first project of more than $14 million in capital improvements.
The Duneland School Board Monday unanimously awarded a $970,360 contract to Midwest Tile & Interiors Inc. for carpet at the high school.
Carpet hasn’t been replaced at Chesterton High School since operations began on the S. 11th Street campus in 2000.
Most of the carpet installation will be done during the summer months.
Along with the replacement of the carpet, construction of a new soccer stadium complex at the high school is part of $14.39 million in capital improvements that were approved last month by the school board. The projects are being funded by a general obligation bond to be repaid over 10 years.
Another part of the capital improvements package is the replacement of playground equipment at Bailly, Brummitt, Liberty and Jackson Elementary Schools.
The board Monday gave permission to advertise for bids for the equipment. A committee was also appointed to review the bids.
Superintendent Chip Pettit said that the new playgrounds will be like the one installed at the new Yost Elementary School campus this past summer.
The board also awarded a contract to H & T Electrical Services for $224,800 for the installation of a new scoreboard in the Chesterton High School Gymnasium.
The scoreboard will hang over the center court. Pettit has said that the cost would be offset through the sale of video advertisements posted on the scoreboard.
Administrators reported some positive first results of the school corporation shifting 7th and 8th graders into the remodeled structures of the Liberty and Westchester Intermediate Schools. The change allowed the district to close the aging Chesterton Middle School building, which is being converted into the Duneland YMCA Healthy Living Campus.
School attendance boundaries were redrawn to facilitate equal enrollment for the Liberty and Westchester campuses, Liberty has 877 students while Westchester enrolls 855.
Shawn Longacre, the 5th and 6th grade principal at Westchester Intermediate, cited statistics that included a 93% drop in expulsions, 35% fewer in-school suspensions, a 38% reduction in out-of-school suspensions and 33% fewer referrals for disciplinary issues on the bus.
Longacre said there are a number of factors contributing to the positive trend. He believes that one reason is the collaboration amongst the staff and a consistency of expectations for students in grades fifth through eighth.
Changes with the bus transportation system mean that students no longer had to wait around for 45 minutes before school began which had been the case with the old Chesterton Middle School.
School Board member Beth Mehling asked if academic performance had improved with the new system in place.
Mike Hamacher, who is principal for seventh and eighth graders at Liberty and was Chesterton Middle School’s principal, said it’s too early to tell. Hamacher said that it’s a better building situation and a “calmer” atmosphere.
Pettit interjected and stated: “At no point did we make the move for the 5 through 8 campuses to boost achievement. Chesterton Middle School was a top 20 performing school.”
The change was made on the basis of better building efficiencies for the district and to provide more opportunities for students, Pettit said.
Pettit said the move to the new campuses has provided some advantages on the behavioral side for students.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
