As a result of a needs analysis, exploration of potential solutions, and a village-wide survey, Bray worked closely with both the Ashwaubenon School District and Village of Ashwaubenon to develop a four-question referendum to address renovations to the Ashwaubenon High School and community spaces. The referendum passed in April 2014.
The referendum included a new Performing Arts Center and renovations to the Pool. These spaces are primarily used by Ashwaubenon High School but can also be utilized for community events.
The new auditorium is fully equipped with a full-fly loft, LED theatrical lighting and a seating capacity of 730. The space also includes new dressing rooms, a green room, and a connection from the existing school to the new addition.
The new 8-lane pool replaces the school’s smaller 5-lane pool and allows the school to host larger swim and dive competitions. Located above the new team locker rooms is seating for up to 500 people and offers an enhanced, elevated view of the space. This project also features the creation of a separate 1,500 square foot warm-water pool which can be used for open swim, aquatic therapy and swim lessons.
Folks, before we get back to the details of Luke Queen’s Friday January 21, 2022 special; called secret School Board meeting, consider this: If the CCS School Board had not let themselves be “hood-winked” into building an unnecessary NEW North Shelby School, auditoriums just like this could have been built at both Burns and Crest High Schools for half a million dollars less than the New North Shelby School final cost. And would have been put to good use years ago.
Back to the original topic of this article: Luke Queen’s secret called school board meeting held at 10:00 AM Friday January 21, 2022.
Note that I call this called meeting a SECRET meting because Luke refused to give proper notification or an agenda for this meeting as required by NC Law. Luke’s purpose was clear-keep the meeting secret from the public until the school board’s decision was done and over with, and without public attendance or input into the meeting. However, Nannette Leonhart discovered the agenda on the School Board website Thursday evening and called me. I found it too. But too late to get the word to the public. Nannette and myself were the only two citizens to attend that meeting.
Luke was also unsuccessful in keeping Danny Blanton away from the meeting. Although Danny Blanton had a previous scheduled appointment in Charlotte later that morning, Danny Showed up to the meeting and made the arrangements to hook up by telephone to the meeting as he was driven to his appointment in Charlotte by his wife. It was a bad day for Luke and his Rogue Republicans as they were thwarted in every part of their planned scheme to keep the public away from their meeting that was filled with bad news for the Rogues, And good news for the public.
The first thing the Rogue Republicans did in this special called meeting was to go into closed session for a discussion with their lawyer. They had to go into closed session in another room because Nannette Leonhart and I were sitting there in attendance. Watching the Rogues like hawks.
The Closed Session lasted exactly one hour and two minutes. When the School Board came back into Open Session, they declared that they were $5.7 Million short of the $27,7 Million low bid by Beam Construction. They did not mention the fact that they had sent Supt. Fisher to the Cleveland County Commissioners for that $5.7 Million and the Commissioners turned them down. The Commissioners had previously told the School Board that the Commissioners required the School Board to develop a detailed Strategic Plan for new capitol construction that included priorities before the Commissioners would provide additional funding for anything. And the School Board refused to comply. Because the school board had refused to comply with the Commissioner’s reasonable (and fiduciarily responsible) requirements, Supt. Fisher came back to CCS empty handed. It is of NOTE that School Board Chairman Luke Queen did NOT accompany Supt. Fisher to talk to the Commissioners. But after Luke Queen lied to the Commissioners about his CCC Board of Trustees appointment, it was obvious that Luke Queen is pretty much toast in the esteem of the Commissioners. Which is NOT good for CCS and CCC.
So, then Supt. Fisher went through a “conniption fit” of a history of CCS’s funding methods for the construction of the new auditoriums for Burns and Crest. These methods were totally based on requesting grants from various sources prior to the use of local funding.
Local funding would have consisted of CCS saving a portion of each years CCS Budget funding and setting it aside in a special fund for the Construction of the Burns and Crest Auditoriums. Or new schools as the old schools age and reach the ends of their useful fife. Every year CCS spends every bit of its funding and asks for more next year. A typical bureaucratic MO, honed to a fine edge by Fisher, Queen and the School Board. But totally bad for long range planning.
Then, Supt. Fisher offered two options to the School Board.
1.Go ahead and sign a contract with Beam Construction and start construction, knowing that the funding was NOT in hand, Putting a major challenge onto the CCS Budget.
Or
2.Delay the construction of the Auditoriums until new grant money could be applied for and approved. Never mentioning cutting back any of the wasteful spending at CCS.
The School Board chose Option 2. Delay the construction of the Auditoriums.
