SPRING VALLEY — After breaking ground on a practice track and setting up for the construction of a bus barn, the Spring Valley School District landed with a surplus of about $1.1 million referendum dollars, with a handful of options for how to use them.

“We talked about potentially putting it into the track, as to where you could get a grandstand, concession stand and lighting for that money to get us closer to a competition track,” Board Member Ryan Glaus said of a committee meeting.

District Administrator John Groh said the main reason for the surplus was the purchase of property across the highway from the school for the bus barn, which also allowed Total Excavating to bid $3-400,000 lower than other companies because they could use dirt from one side of the street to level the ground on the other side.

“We have the awesome problem of having more money than needed to do the projects that we originally planned on. Having said that, the community task force and the community survey in 2024 identified much more than $13.35 million worth of stuff that could be done,” Groh said.

Examples of items identified in the community survey were a career and technical education wing and a family and consumer science wing. The board could also opt to use some or all of the referendum dollars to pay down the borrowing number, which the district had done during a previous referendum.

The question proposed at the meeting was whether or not the board wanted to direct Groh to look into the cost of building the track project up from a practice track to a competition track or not. A Nexus Solutions representative said if the district is going to make further improvements to the track, this will be the most cost-effective time to do so, as it will not alter the process of the construction workers significantly.

Board Member Monica Shafer said a theme identified during the recent community strategic planning event was to continue to invest in facilities for extra-curricular and curricular activities, so the district should at least look into the cost of adding onto the track project. The board agreed, making the direction to Groh.

Community Strategic Planning Event

Spring Valley recently opened its doors to the community to discuss future themes people would like the district to focus on. The overwhelming opinion board members shared was that it was a valuable experience, and they are now exploring the next steps.

“I went into it like this is a lot of time invested, and I was a little weary of that, but honestly the time went by really fast,” Board Vice President Jennelle Wolf said. “Great discussion from the group. It was a really mixed bag, so I was happy about that, all age ranges. I was really proud of our students that showed up, and didn’t just show up and sit there, actively participating.”

Groh said the focus is not on the problems, but rather the future of what the district can be. Four pillars were identified prior to the event, and now district staff will use the feedback and compare them to the pillars for a strategic plan.

“Our work now is to take those four pillars and reflect, does the community feedback match those pillars,” Groh said. “If so, how can we weave in those concepts? Is there another pillar that needs to be woven in?”

The five most voted targets were the following:

• Partner with local businesses and the community to provide/offer more clubs. Business partners could potentially mentor/coach. Examples may include: car club, early childhood club, baking/culinary/family consumer science, robotics, and automation engineering
• Prepare students for post-secondary life: technical college, college, workforce, apprenticeships
• Offer daycare to families to keep students in the district
• Invest in teachers and staff via training, recognition, and appreciation
• Continue to invest in facilities for both extra-curricular and curricular activities

Capital Projects

The board approved the scoreboard/shot clock project funded through advertising contracts with local businesses. Contracts will last five years, with two businesses committed to $6,000 per year, eight committed to $3,000 per year and two committed to $1,000 per year. There are eight more spots available in the $1,000 per year window.

The district projects to profit on the scoreboard purchase after five years, with the opportunity for further profit through contract renewals and new contracts. Advertising dollars allow the district to spread referendum money elsewhere.

“Now we have businesses in the community that are literally saying, ‘You’re going to do this for us, we’d love to do this for you,’” Groh said. “So, it’s really not even taxpayer funded, which is the best thing.”

“When this first got presented to us, that was kind of the deal-breaker is if this was going to cost us anything or is this going to go,” Wolf said.

The board additionally approved MS/HS furniture purchases from the referendum (Board Member Beth Ingli opposed), which was stalled temporarily as district leaders ensured there was enough funds to cover the furniture along with other projects like the bus barn. A printer/copier purchase was also approved.

Board Reorganization

The board approved the following annual reorganization nominations and appointments:

President: Stacy Schultz

Vice President: Jennelle Wolf

Clerk: Monica Shafer

Treasurer: Monica Vorlicek

Buildings and Grounds Committee: Ryan Glaus, Emily Collins, Beth Ingli

Finance Committee: Beth Ingli, Monica Vorlicek, Emily Collins

Policy Committee: Jennelle Wolf, Monica Shafer, Stacy Schultz

CESA 11 Annual Meeting Representative: Stacy Schultz

WASB Delegate to State Education Convention: Monica Vorlicek

Spring Valley Education Foundation Representative: Monica Shafer

Additionally, the board recognized Class of 2026 Valedictorian Millija Vanasse, Salutatorian Emma Buck and Technical Excellence Scholarship recipient Tyler Vanasse at the meeting.