Page 6 - Tom Parrish News Today

One candidate officially announced her candidacy for the board in the upcoming November election. Andrea Haitz, 51, a native of Grand Junction announced that she will run for the school board in District C. The seat in District C is currently occupied by Trish Mahre. In her press release, Haitz said she’s a mother of three, and former chairperson for District 51’s Public Charter Juniper Ridge Community School. “As a mother of three, I am personally invested in a strong education ...

If voters approve, Grand Junction High School will be all new as the School District 51 Board of Education voted Tuesday evening to not pursue a plan that would have

The north wing at Central High School, 550 Warrior Way, may look better than Grand Junction High School on the outside. But on the inside, it’s in just as dire shape, officials say. The wing has poor air quality, is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is only a year younger than the Grand Junction High building. When School District 51 assessed its most pressing infrastructure needs, replacing the wing was identified as the second-most important one, just behin...

School District 51 is moving forward with an inspection of the Grand Junction High School gym, having received proposals for the inspection work on the facility. That inspection is an important hurdle for district officials to clear before the Board of Education makes a final pitch for a new school bond. At the last school board meeting, the board was ready to make a decision on a building design before it decided to have an engineer analyze the gym walls to decide if they’re salvageable o...

The District 51 Board of Education on Tuesday held off deciding on details for a bond measure that would fund a new Grand Junction High School. The delay allows time for an engineer to analyze the gym walls at GJHS and decide if the building is salvageable or not, which could take three or four weeks. The results from that analysis are necessary to finalizing bond language and a cost estimate. “If we want to make an informed decision as a board and to help save money for the community, the...

By Jef Rietsma Journal Correspondent There are 1,700 fewer tires taking up space in barns, garages and sheds, or littering the countryside, in St. Joseph County. Tires were among the most common items taken to a household waste and electronics collection Saturday at the fairgrounds in Centreville. Pat Kulikowski, secretary St. Joseph County Solid Waste Committee, which organized the event, was unable to provide an explanation for the unprecedented number of tires turned in Saturday.  Regardles...

More Mesa County residents have now received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine than there have been positive COVID-19 cases. As of Tuesday’s weekly report from Mesa County Public Health, 14,820 residents have received both doses of one of the COVID-19 vaccines. In terms of first shots administered — which surpassed the total infections weeks ago — 31,435 residents have gotten their first shot. That number is well more than double the number of infections recorded since the pande...

Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting was adjourned just moments after starting because a woman refused to wear her mask. Board President Tom Parrish began the meeting promptly at 6 p.m. before asking audience members to wear their masks. Jacqueline Anderson refused, claiming that she has a medical condition. A back-and-forth ensued before Parrish adjourned the meeting two minutes after it began. Audience members then began arguing with Parrish from across the room before things settled dow...

When Brian Hill first stepped into his fourth-grade classroom in the Austin Independent School District in Texas, he had no plans to be anything more than a teacher. He chose

Diana Sirko hasn’t left her post as superintendent of School District 51 yet, but a successor is already lined up. The Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously agreed that current Assistant Superintendent Brian Hill was the best person for that role, and selected him to be the future superintendent. Hill has been with the district since July 2019. “I had to ask myself, ‘Would I feel comfortable putting a generation of students in classrooms across the systems with you as the l...