Apollo High School Construction Updates Are Moving Forward

Apollo high school construction projects are underway.  St. Cloud School Superintendent Laurie Putnam joined me on WJON for an update.  The ambulance bay at Apollo high school was one of the first parts of the project and Putnam says she just toured the facility and they plan to teach their EMT and CNA classes there.  She expects the facility to be fully open within the next couple of weeks.

Apollo Projects

The fencing is up around the future site of the Apex Athletic Facility on the south end of the Apollo High School campus near Veterans Drive.  Putnam says work on the project will start shortly as they are waiting for a couple of permits from the city.  She says they were able to make some changes to the mezzanine.  That is where the batting cages and golf simulator will be located.  Putnam says they will officially be breaking ground on construction of the storm shelter this summer.

Graduation Changes Venues

Tech and Apollo high school's graduation ceremonies will be moving from Rivers Edge Convention Center in downtown St. Cloud to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on the St. Cloud State University campus starting in 2027.  Superintendent Putnam says they plan to use the same security protocols that worked well on the ceremonies this past weekend.

Maintenance Projects

Today (Monday) is the last day that school staff is working prior to summer break.  Putnam says they plan to start summer maintenance projects midweek this week.  Putnam says they have work scheduled to be done at Talahi Elementary which is where the most comprehensive work will be done this summer.  The District is planning roof and HVAC work, window replacement, and parking lot redesign of the lot off University Drive.

HVAC and Flooring

Putnam says Discovery, Madison, Oak Hill, McKinley and Westwood Elementary schools will have some classroom and hallway flooring work and Lincoln Elementary will have its rooftop HVAC units replaced.  She says they are also planning on doing HVAC work on North and South Junior Highs.  Kennedy Community School will have some work done on their geothermal heating and cooling systems.  Putnam also says the district plans to update restrooms at Tech High School.

Work at Tech

Putnam says believe it or not Tech High School is 10 years old and needs some maintenance work done.  She says it is importance to keep the schools and properties in good shape going forward.  Money for these maintenance projects is in the district's budget.

Retirements

District 742 is celebrating the retirement of 43 employees totally 1,025 years of service.  Putnam says many of these individuals gave notice of their plan to retire so the district has plans in place to replace these individuals.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Laurie Putnam, click below.