Sigourney School Board Discusses Possible Junior/Senior High Infrastructure Project

SIGOURNEY – In a special meeting after the Oct. 11 Sigourney School Board meeting, the board discussed possible plans to carry out infrastructure improvements at the Jr./Sr. High School, similar to the ones carried out at the elementary. Hatfield noted that the board was still in the exploration phase, and did not have any concrete plans at the moment. He stated that the district just finished big projects at the elementary school and football field, and that it could be a problem if a lot of the board left partway through the project. Superintendent Kevin Hatfield stated that Sigourney has one of the lowest tax rates in the area. He stated that the building is clean, with no decay, although it could be argued students need more modern facilities.

Hatfield, who was very involved in the elementary infrastructure work, stated he didn’t know if he had it in him to lead a project for the next three years. Board member Tim Bruns agreed with this, stating he was concerned with how long Hatfield would be at Sigourney and that he would hate to start a project then have Hatfield retire. Bruns stated the public would look at that when deciding if they would support the project. Board member Adam Clark stated that, with proper planning, if everything was in motion, Hatfield would be able to hand things over to someone else. Board member Mike Bensmiller agreed, saying that, if everything was in place, they could keep rolling. Hatfield stated that he was happy to work on the project, because it was good for the community. He stated managing a project takes a ton of time, but that he had the energy and was willing to lead, but also fine if somebody else would step in and take over. Clark stated that the elementary work was successful because Hatfield was so involved to make sure it got done.

Clark stated that, with the elementary project, the board had a study on the school done, found out what issues it had, then talked with the public about what they wanted to see happen before moving forward. He noted that the board would need a bond vote to pass to do extensive work at the Jr./Sr. High School. He stated that the Jr./Sr. High School work was originally planned as the second phase of the project, and asked if it would ever get done if they put it off. Bensmiller agreed they needed to get the community involved, because different people see different things. He stated that they told the community they would do the Jr./Sr. High after the elementary. Board member Alan Glandon stated that they didn’t specify the time or level of work that would be done at the Jr./Sr. High.

Clark stated he would like there to be multiple assessments of the school, so decisions were not based on one company’s opinion, and that even if assessments cost money it would be well spent because the public would know there was a second opinion. He stated he had been uneasy during the elementary project, because only SiteLogIQ had done an assessment.

Prior to the meeting, the board had met with four different architecture firms interested in the project: OPN, SiteLogIQ, Christner Contracting and Denovo Construction Solutions. Hatfield stated the school attorney had advised him to have the board rank these companies before going forward. The board discussed the different companies, then ranked them. The board requested the specific ranking not be repeated in the paper. That said, there was a clear favorite. No official decision was made on what company to go with.

The board discussed having the bond vote during the Nov. 2025 election. Clark stated that the board had spent money wisely and that he hadn’t heard anything negative about the elementary work, but that an election could inspire people to get their negative opinion out. Glandon noted there might be blowback for the tax raise for the bond. Hatfield noted that people can get wound up fast. Bruns stated that communication would help. 

Hatfield stated that the timeline would be tight, and that he would prefer for the top two companies to do assessments of the school before the next board meeting. He stated that it might be tricky, because the companies might not want to do an assessment without being chosen for the project.  Clark noted that, for the elementary project, SiteLogIQ did the assessment for free, and that the good work they did led to them being hired. Bensmiller stated that, if he knew he was in the final two, he would work his tail off to get chosen.