Independence school board approves parking lot work, extends fall sports co-op

The parking lot near the Independence School District’s multi-use community sports field will be paved.

The field was added with a grant from Pilgrim’s Pride. It currently houses soccer nets and eventually will be the practice football field. The district received two bids for the work, and chose the lower bid of $15,094.08 from Monarch Paving of Amery, a division within Mathy Construction Co. The work will include adding finished gravel to raise the base of the lot and is likely to begin this spring, district administrator Paul Franzwa said.

Board President Joe Bragger spoke in favor of the work, which was approved unanimously.

“It’s by no means a large parking lot, but it’d keep a few cars off the street,” Bragger said.

Monarch’s bid was lower than a $15,925 bid from a separate company, one that was not named on Tuesday. The board and district decided not to include company names with the bids and instead compare them side by side, Franzwa told the Times last week.

The board also approved renewing its fall sports co-op agreement with Gilmanton for football, volleyball and cross country for the 2025-26 school year and 2026-2027.

The schools are currently in the final year of a two-year agreement established ahead of the 2023-24 school year, one that added volleyball to the co-op.

“Everything’s been going really well. … Still having great conversations,” Franzwa said. “I think the relationship between us and Gilmanton is growing, and we have no concerns on our end.”

The board approved the extension in a meeting they also approved a request for continued education credits from high school English and Spanish teacher Ryan Jennings.

Independence schools can contract with teachers to help pay for licensures and continued education. If a teacher leaves the district within five years of obtaining a degree the district helped pay for, the teacher is responsible for reimbursing the district for some of that cost with less money owed the longer they stay in the district.

Jennings filled the position last school year after the departure of another teacher.

“A person left last year, so we had to get creative with how we filled it,” Franzwa told the Times, “and now he’s willing to go back and get the licensure for it.”