Elementary School. Danville Board of Education members learned Monday night the cistern cost up to $35,000 in work to fix.

“If it presents more than we think, they’re supposed to stop work and notify us,” said Eric Steva, project manager with RossTarrant, who said he was daily updating Ed McKinney, director of pupil personnel, buildings and grounds, and transportation for the district.

This cistern was built using brick, Steva said, which made it a different situation than the first one, which was built using fieldstone, and had clay pipes leading in and out, creating a lot of “soft, wet soils that had to be taken out,” Steva said. The first cistern cost around $60,000 to fix.

There’s a space that’s about 62 feet long and 4 feet deep that has to be filled, he said, which includes the cistern and a lot of old building fill, such as brick, tile and old metals, that can’t serve as the basis for the driveway to the school. 

“We don’t know if that’s from the old Maple Avenue School or where it came from,” he said. “You want a good base for the driveway … This is all unforeseen, because it’s under the soil.”

“We have to go ahead,” said Board member Steve Becker. Board Chair Paige Matthews agreed.

In other business

• The board heard from Becker regarding upcoming bills in the state legislature, or that have been signed into law.

“There’s lots of things going on,” Becker said. He gave each board member a packet of information about the various bills, most of which go into effect for the fall. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Look suggested adding detailed discussion for some of the bills to the May work session to give the board a chance to have a “greater conversation.”

• The board received a request from Steva so that work could be done on the roof at Toliver to repair a spot in the roof that had leaked in the past. It was noticed, he said, when demo work was being done in a restroom. There was also leaking reported following a winter rain storm, Steva said.

The work will be done along the 1928 building, above the second floor addition from 1955, and one of the gable ends, Steva said, who explained the cost is mostly labor, because it’s a labor-intensive job.

“We don’t want this to occur again and damage new finishes,” he said. It will take about 2-3 weeks to do the work, and will require scaffolding in some places.

• Also, the board heard the district’s Title IX report from Lisa Fisher, Danville High School athletic director. The report is required by the Kentucky Department of Education each year, to show the opportunities to students, the demographics of those involved, a survey of what students would like to take, the expenses involved, what improvements are being made to athletic facilities, and more.

Follow Kendra Peek on Twitter, @knpeek.