The Portage Township School Board approved a nearly $3 million contract Monday for varsity baseball and softball field improvements at Portage High School.
The contract will cover new turf for the fields. New fencing will also be installed, but that’s going to be a separate contract, Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said.
She’s hoping there will be enough money left for new scoreboards, too, but that remains to be seen.
Work will begin in very early summer, right after the teams’ season concludes, Alaniz said.
In other business, Greater Portage Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jerry Czarnecki told the School Board that the No Place for Hate project being done with local businesses in conjunction with the school district will roll out around the end of this month.
The project is for all businesses, not just chamber members, to let students know that participating businesses pledge not to tolerate hatred toward others.
Using the same language in the community as in the schools helps kids understand proper behavior is expected throughout the community, not just at school, Alaniz said.
Like schools, businesses displaying the sticker in their window will be identified as a welcoming environment, she said.
“This is language that anyone can understand,” Alaniz said. “We can best foster the development of being positive and being kind by simply saying this isn’t a place for hate. This isn’t a community for hate. We don’t tolerate those things here.”
Alaniz’s first meeting with Czarnecki on this project was even before he became executive director on Jan. 1.
The chamber is also partnering with the district in hopes of bringing back the Reality Store project to help middle school students better understand what it takes to thrive financially in the real world, Czarnecki said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
