Superintendent reports Frontier roof concerns, staff changes and spring school events

Superintendent Dan told the Elizabeth School District Board of Education on April 7 that roof leaks at the Frontier building prompted the district to relocate some renters and to close parts of the building while additional inspections occur.

“We did have, some concern surface on our roof at Frontier, and so we have relocated some of our renters, at this time,” Superintendent Dan said. He told the board Legacy Homeschool Academy will use modular classrooms at Elizabeth Middle School for the remainder of the year. Dan said mold testing found “there is no mold in that building,” and that the gym will reopen effective the following day. He told the board additional roof inspections are planned to determine the extent of repairs; current roofers attributed deterioration to heavy snowfall in November.

The superintendent also gave personnel and program updates. He announced that Michael Seifried, principal at Running Creek, is retiring and that the district has opened a search; the district also posted for a special education director after the current director (Dr. Seifried) announced retirement. Rebecca Brooks, the district chief financial officer, accepted a position in District 49; Brooks’s last day is April 15 and the district will hold a reception April 14 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the boardroom.

Dan described an operational change at Singing Hills: a partnership with the county provided crushed asphalt at no cost to expand teacher parking, a move intended to shorten a long parent pickup line that at times “was backing up all the way past the fire department and blocking the fire department from getting out.” The superintendent said the district hopes to redesign parent pickup to reduce the queue on Singing Hills Road.

Communications included a report from Brett McClendon presenting on behalf of the high school. McClendon highlighted end-of-year events and testing: registration and staffing conversations had just begun, an art show opened the evening of the meeting, CMAS testing for 11th graders was scheduled for Friday, SAT/PSAT testing on April 16–17, an awards night on April 22 at 6 p.m., a district-wide help day on April 23, prom on April 25, a jazz dessert concert on April 26, and graduation scheduled for May 24 at 10 a.m., weather permitting. He thanked Lowe’s and Jonathan Glassburn for donating four ovens, four microwaves and a refrigerator to the high school’s culinary and special education programs.

Dan also reminded the board of the state budget context: “we are at $1,200,000,000 shortfall this year in the state budget,” he said, and noted the state’s planned implementation timeline for a new finance bill may be slowed but not stopped; the district is preparing draft budget documents for review at the next board meeting.

The board did not take action during this portion of the meeting beyond receiving reports and approving later listed agenda items. The transcript does not record additional details about contractor selection or repair timelines for the Frontier roof; the superintendent said inspections were performed multiple times, including by insurance and the state building department, and that further assessment is underway.