Weather delays on construction, progress on hiring for Beatrice Public Schools

BEATRICE – A few construction days recently were lost on the new Beatrice Public Schools prekindergarten to fifth grade building near 33rd and Lincoln.
"The rain has been a great thing for the crops and the grass and all the things we need it to be for....but it's not been such a great thing for construction. I think the last ten days, we've had six weather days where they haven't been able to work."

School Superintendent Jason Alexander says crews have been working to remove standing water from the site.  "Pumping water out of the places where they're trying to get ready to pour cement. The upper deck level was being poured."

Alexander says the project is still on schedule and financing of the new school through an interlocal agreement between the district, ESU-Number 5 and a local bank are going well. Alexander says the remainder of this month, construction crews will be pouring the interior floor of the structure.

"The goal for that was to be done before the end of July. And then, at the end of July, start working on pouring those parking lots and lanes."

The target is to occupy the school building for the start of the school year in 2024. It will bring all prekindergarten through fifth grade students to a single site, rather than operate four aging buildings throughout the community.

Meanwhile, this school year is fast approaching, with new teachers coming in for their first day on August 1st. Alexander says instructor vacancies all have been filled. There are a couple of positions where student teachers will be used, with the goal of hiring them as full-time instructors, at the end of the first semester.
Alexander says the district continues to work on filling several classified staff positions during a tight labor market.

"In terms of classified staff, we've been very fortunate. In the last couple of months, we've held two hiring fairs...and out of those hiring fairs, we've narrowed down sixteen openings to about half of that, right now. We were able to get two applicants today (Monday) that we feel fortunate to get. In this climate, it's definitely hard to find people to work. But, we've been very fortunate and feel we're on the right track, and hopefully by the start of the school year we'll have all positions filled."

School districts are competing for staff not only between districts, but also with other sectors. "We tried to make a very aggressive move, payroll-wise this year, to get ourselves in a more competitive market. That seems to be paying off. We've had a lot more interest and seem to be getting a lot more applications....so that's good for us."

The Beatrice School Board met Monday night, reaffirming the district’s Safe Return to School Plan, district policy on student fees, parental involvement in schools and various handbooks that will be used for this upcoming school year.