Rain poured down upon Mayfield Elementary School during Cleveland City Schools’ Board of Education meeting Monday night while the board discussed the potential problems rain could cause for the construction of the new Raider Arena.
The board was assured by Brian Templeton, firm principal of Upland Design Group, that construction is still on schedule and will be completed within the 30-day grace period built into the contract of the January 2016 completion date. But he admitted that “some remedial work” will need to be done where the court will be placed because of the rainfall. However, the company is still hopeful that the project will be completed by mid-January.
“There’s lots of work going on. It looks like there will be a lot of rain this week, but there’s still quite a bit of progress (being made) from when we reported 30 days ago,” Mr. Templeton said.
Much of the steel for the arena is in place, and the construction of the locker rooms are the next steps in the construction of the new 2,700-seat arena. Upland Design Group is also working on designing a new weight room for Cleveland City Schools and the drawings of the weight room will be issued April 6. Pricing will be completed in about two weeks, according to Mr. Templeton.
The board also officially announced a new four-year deal with Under Armor making Cleveland High School the second school in the state to reach an equipment and apparel deal with the Baltimore-based company.
“We’re very proud of that,” said Martin Ringstaff, director of Cleveland City Schools. “We do believe that it not only gives us fantastic discounts on all of our uniforms … but also gives us great clothing, the kids love it and the dry fit material is unbelievable.”
Student liaison Reed Calfee echoed Mr. Ringstaff’s excitement saying the deal is “great for the school.”
Last year, teachers were provided free Chick-fil-A lunch during teacher’s appreciation week in early May. The feedback and practicality of the gesture was so positive that the board unanimously approved a decision to do it again this school year.
“My inbox was flooded with ‘thank you’ notes from teachers” after the board did this last year, board member Dawn Roberson said.
The cost was about $4,700, or around $5.75 per teacher.
Carol Dale, a German teacher at Cleveland City Schools, spoke to the board looking for approval and support for the German American Partnership Program during the meeting.
The program will take 20 Cleveland City School students and partner them with schools in Germany to work on a collaborative project. The students will then travel to Germany to study the culture for two weeks during the summer. The topic of the project hasn’t been finalized.
“This is exactly what we need to be doing,” said Murl Dirkson, a board member and professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Lee University. “It’s so important for our students to have this experience when they can with European students.”
The board approved the program unanimously.
During the course of the meeting, the board also unanimously approved an updated contract with GCA Services Group for Cleveland City Schools’ janitorial needs and a deal with the YMCA for a 10-percent employee discount as a part of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga’s Corporate Wellness Program.
"Hopefully it will inspire those who are not members of the Y to maybe have a little bit healthier of a lifestyle,” YMCA board member Doug Moore said.
The discount is not just limited to teachers but is available to all Cleveland City Schools’ employees.
Cleveland City Schools holds its board meetings the first Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m.