Pine City High School

Over the past decade, more than three different groups have been hired to examine the challenges of ground settling at the elementary school and propose solutions. Each group proposed similar plans with comparable costs (adjusted for inflation). These proposals resulted from community participation in a six-month study conducted about a year and a half ago. The options for the elementary school ranged from $29 to $48 million. From there, the board refined these proposals to establish the final option to be presented to the taxpayers in a referendum. The school board has worked hard to refine these proposals to meet the district's needs and gain voter support. The project's value is higher due to the inclusion of Long-Term Facility Maintenance Projects. The question is whether hiring a fourth group will yield different results or if continued delays will cause the price to keep rising. The detailed estimates were prepared by our construction manager, RA Morton, with assistance from our architects and engineers at LHB Inc., and other consultants used by the district for roofing and other maintenance issues. A detailed estimate is available on the district’s website. The inflationary values come from these groups and a comparison to projects proposed by other firms in the area, using similar inflationary values. Public projects face the challenge that project documents (including budgets) must be submitted to the Department of Education for review and approval months before the referendum and up to a year before the project documents are ready for bidding. This review provides checks and balances to ensure consistency with other projects across the state (in terms of space programs, square feet per student, and budgets). Concerns regarding bidding are also managed through a controlled process. The design professional creates the bid documents, the district’s attorney reviews the bidding rules, and the construction manager oversees the bid process and bidder qualifications. Inconsistencies are addressed by the district’s attorney, and the entire process is part of the district’s annual audit. This is the same process we use for various purchases at the district, and by statute, we must follow the rules established by the State of Minnesota. Thanks to the many of you for asking questions, visiting the schools, and keeping the conversation constructive, positive and free of offensive language regardless of your position or beliefs. If there are any further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call our superintendent or any of the school board members.

🚗📚 Does your teen need Driver's Ed? 📅 Register now for our tentative August class! 🗓️ Schedule: Day 1: Fri, Aug 2nd, 8-11am Day 2: Sat, Aug 3rd, 8-11am Day 3: Mon, Aug 5th, 8-11am Day 4: Tue, Aug 6th, 8-11am Day 5: Wed, Aug 7th, 8-11am Day 6: Thu, Aug 8th, 3-6pm & (Parent Meeting 6-7:30pm) Day 7: Fri, Aug 9th, 8-11am Day 8: Sat, Aug 10th, 8-11am Day 9: Mon, Aug 12th, 2-5pm Day 10: Tue, Aug 13th, 2-5pm Register by packet at the main office or online. Call 📞 320-629-4112 for more info or visit 🌐 www.isd578.org/driversed. We need 12+ students to hold this class! #DriversEd #TeenDrivers #RegisterNow #SafeDriving 🚦

🚗📚 Does your teen need Driver's Ed? 📅 Register now for our tentative August class! 🗓️ Schedule: Day 1: Fri, Aug 2nd, 8-11am Day 2: Sat, Aug 3rd, 8-11am Day 3: Mon, Aug 5th, 8-11am Day 4: Tue, Aug 6th, 8-11am Day 5: Wed, Aug 7th, 8-11am Day 6: Thu, Aug 8th, 3-6pm & (Parent Meeting 6-7:30pm) Day 7: Fri, Aug 9th, 8-11am Day 8: Sat, Aug 10th, 8-11am Day 9: Mon, Aug 12th, 2-5pm Day 10: Tue, Aug 13th, 2-5pm Register by packet at the main office or online. Call 📞 320-629-4112 for more info or visit 🌐 www.isd578.org/driversed. We need 12+ students to hold this class! #DriversEd #TeenDrivers #RegisterNow #SafeDriving 🚦

📚✏️ 2024-2025 School Supply Lists are out! 📝✨ Find Grades K-6 here: https://5il.co/2ras1 📖 and Grades 7-12 here: https://5il.co/2rauq 🎒📘 #SchoolSupplies #ReadyToLearn #2024SchoolYear #DragonPride

🍽️ Free Summer Meals for Kids 18 & Under! 🌞 Join us June 10 - July 12, Monday to Friday, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Dine-in only at Elementary & Jr/Sr High. #SummerMeals #DragonPride #CommunitySupport 🥪

🎓✨ Join us at 7:00 PM this evening for the livestream commencement of the Class of 2024! 📅🎉 #ClassOf2024 #GraduationDay https://www.youtube.com/live/ZBRnLrXePSQ?si=Ih_TWM2xXQyGc1WA

The CIS Introduction to Public Speaking students have successfully completed their University of Minnesota course! 🎉👏 Congratulations to them for all of the hard work and effort they have put into their 8 speeches! 🎤📚 #PublicSpeaking #DragonPride #Congrats

🍽️ Free Summer Meals for Kids 18 & Under! 🌞 Join us June 10 - July 12, Monday to Friday, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Dine-in only at Elementary & Jr/Sr High. #SummerMeals #DragonPride #CommunitySupport 🥪

🚂 Students in Mr. Schlichting's STEM class designed a model train in CAD and had the models printed out on the 3D printer. 🖥️🖨️ #STEM #3DPrinting #CAD #Innovation #DragonPride

Dragon Academy students recently completed their spool redesign project for East Central Energy's Too Spool for School contest. ECE donated two spools from their fiber optic inititiave and an additional $200 for materials. A number of the Dragon Academy students are part of our school's trapshooting team and enjoy other shooting sports as well. When we were brainstorming for our project, they suggested creating a benchrest for target shooting. Pine City is competing against ten other area schools for a $500 prize. Voting is open on East Central Energy's Facebook page from May 13 to May 17. Please vote and share the link widely! “Share” the post on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=833521685466133&set=a.465560768928895 Send the direct voting link: https://forms.office.com/r/pGTQekJU7P

🎉 On May 3, we celebrate our amazing food service heroes at Pine City Schools! 🍎 Thank you for nourishing our minds and bodies every day! #SchoolLunchHeroesDay #ThankYou #YouAreAppreciated 🙌

Students in Mr. Schlichting's Advanced Welding class have been mass producing these custom fire pits. The panels are cut out on a CNC plasma cutting table where students are able to incorporate their own designs in the cut outs and then welded together. #DragonPride #CTE #PCHS

The Dragon Speech team competed at the Section 7A tournament at Duluth Marshall. The top three competitors in each category moves on to the state tournament in Shakopee on April 19. Two Dragon speechers are not only moving on to compete at the state tournament, they are also both the section champions in their categories! A huge congratulations to Eli Kallberg for placing 1st in Creative Expression and to Anthony Bergeron for placing 1st in Discussion! Another congratulations to Elijah Jahnz and Jacob Wimmer for placing 4th in Duo, Noah McDaniel for placing 5th in Discussion, Phoenix Yang for placing 6th in Humor, and Maya Iglesias and Alayna Burton for placing 6th in Duo! Wish Eli and Anthony luck as they represent Pine City at state on the 19th! #DragonSpeech #DragonPride

On Sunday April 7, 13 new members were inducted as the PCHS NHS Chapter joining the current 30 members. So far this school year the current NHS students have volunteered over 630 hours in our schools and our community. These students are actively upholding the four pillars of the National Society: Character, Leadership, Scholarship, and Service. If you have any community events that could use some volunteers as the members are always looking for different ways to serve please contact NHS advisor Sara Roubinek at sroubinek@isd578.org. #DragonPride #PCNHS

📰 April District Newsletter is out now! 🐷🦆📚 Get updates on Charlotte's Web, wood ducks, kindergarten, Referendum FAQs, printable calendars, and Senior Spotlight. #DistrictNewsletter #CommunityUpdates 🗞️ https://tinyurl.com/ISD578April24Newsletter

📅 Save the Date! Thursday, April 18, 2024, 5:30-6:30pm 🕠 🏫 Pine City Elementary School Media Center 🎓 Join us for Math Night! Fun-filled activities for grades K-6. #MathNight #FamilyFun 🎲🖥️🔢

🎙️ Excited to unveil Episode 1 of Referendum 2024 Podcast! Tune in now! For complete information about Referendum 2024 visit www.isd578.org/referendum #Referendum2024 #TaxCalculator #Videos #SampleBallot #FAQ #VoteEarly https://youtu.be/55bY-CzXsrA

Mr. Eichten's woodworking classes have been designing and fabricating their walleye hat rack projects. On this project they work on perfecting their band saw skills. It can be quite difficult for them to cut the curves smooth and sleek, so they may have to hand file and sand the edges of the fish to clean it up. Some students even chose to laser engrave words or details like fin and gill lines on the fish. Overall, it was a fun project and they turned out well. It is time for these fish to swim upstream and spawn for spring. The students are looking forward to making key racks and clocks in the near future. Nice job students, and keep up the good work. Go Dragons! 🐉🛠🐟 #woodworking #CTEatPCHS

Mr. Eichten's 7th grade CTE students have been working diligently on the traditional wood duck project. In 7th grade CTE classes, the students concentrate on traditional drafting and woodworking applications. They do not use computers for drafting, it is all done by hand drawing using traditional drafting tools. In the woodworking part of the course, the students do not use power tools either. The wood duck project is cut, filed, sanded, and varnished all by hand. The students will start using power tools and computers in 8th grade CTE courses. It is almost time to let this batch of ducks migrate to their new homes and start a new flock in the fourth quarter. Great job kids and go Dragons! 🐉🦆🛠 #woodduck #PCHS #CTE #tradition

🎉 Congratulations to Pine City High School Senior Sage Staber 🎓 for signing to play volleyball at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, MN! 🏐 #PCHSVolleyball #CollegeBound #DragonPride #GoRaiders