MENOMINEE—The Menominee School Board welcomed two board members, elected officers and tabled the asbestos financing agenda item at Wednesday’s organizational meeting.
Cindy Jones and Jocelyn Rankinen are the newly-elected members who will serve on the board, with Derek Butler remaining as president, Cindy Woods elected as vice president and Becky Thoune remaining as secretary.
The board tabled the financing for asbestos cleanup on the agenda, citing that it needs more information before making a decision, said superintendent Rich Sarau.
The Menominee Junior/Senior High School was closed after sustaining flood damage on Aug. 1 that peeled up asbestos tile and damaged an estimated 30 rooms. The cleanup has involved several organizations and created multiple timelines for students, staff, construction and other groups affected. In December, the board heard public comments from numerous parents, teachers and others concerned about the lack of communication caused by the complicated asbestos issue.
The school is working with the engineering company SitelogIQ, maintenance people, its business manager, the insurance company and others to get the cost together, which is still ongoing, he said.
“There’s a whole lot of people who are going to have to be involved,” Sarau said.
In early November, Sarau told the EagleHerald that the board considered taking out a loan to cover the already completed work. It also reviewed financing options to cover continuing expenses. The attorneys are examining the financing options, as he said the board didn’t know the best loan to take out.
“The charges accumulating have to be separated to know what damages are covered by insurance or by other entities,” Sarau said.
He said they needed to figure out what was damaged by the water and what was damaged by the asbestos.
“We’ve got to get all the information put together and break it down to see what we have to borrow to pay that,” Sarau said.
He said he doesn’t know when the asbestos abatement financing will be on the agenda for an approval vote. Teachers will return to school on Monday, and grades nine through 12 will return to the school on Tuesday, Jan. 17, with seventh and eighth graders to transition over at a later date, according to a press release from Sarau.
The next committee of the whole meeting is Wednesday at 6 p.m. The next regular board meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m.
