Community,

It’s a Great Day to be a Gladiator!!

Last night the Italy ISD Board of Trustees met for their regular meeting. Recently, the teachers and Mrs. Thomas at Stafford Elementary began recognizing students who excel in the classroom and in physical education. It was exciting to watch the young students who earned awards from their teachers. Several students went home with nice trophies.

Several items were on the agenda. One significant item was the approval of allowing the architect to start the design of the new cafeteria at Italy High School. Many will remember that a new cafeteria was part of the 2015 Bond Package. This new cafeteria will have a stage for the band and theater classes to practice. It will also be set up like an auditorium for spectator comfort.

The board also approved the procurement process of a Construction Manager at Risk for the cafeteria. This will allow us to choose a Construction Manager at Risk early so they can work with the architect during the design phase. Working together allows them to proceed with value engineering at the front end of the design.

The board was able to make these decisions due to a strong financial position of our 2015 Bond package based on higher than expected enrollment and Average Daily Attendance.

During the heavy rains earlier this year residents on and near Milan St. experienced flooding on their property. Some residents’ had damage to their home. The water that rushes to the back of their property comes from several areas onto the school’s property.

As part of construction, we are building a detention pond to slow water down that comes off of the new football field. Michael Chambers and Jackie Cate asked me to look into building the pond larger to capture the water that doesn’t come from the football field. Much of the water comes from College St. onto the school property. The hope is that a larger detention pond will capture the natural flow of water and will slow it down to help prevent flooding in the neighborhood south of the school. The ISD Board Members and I feel it is important to help our neighbors whenever possible. Although our original plan meets required specifications, Italy ISD will build a larger detention pond in an effort to help the community.

It is an exciting time to be a part of the Italy community. Our students, parents, teachers and neighbors are making us great!

It’s a Great Day to be a Gladiator!!

Lee Joffre