VIENNA — The Maries R-1 School Board at the December meeting was briefed on the school district’s current construction projects and on what is planned in the near future.

Superintendent Mark Parker gave the update during his administrative report to the board members. Currently, district staff is working on preparing the space in the old band room, which is being converted into the weight room. The area needs to be cleaned and a section of wall taken out for supervisory purposes. Then the mats and equipment will be moved into the room. In the old weight room, they will be framing up a wall to convert it into a changing room for athletes. Parker said sometimes they need areas for more than two teams when there is tournament play at the gym.

He told the board members the track has been painted, saying it looks really nice. They continue to assemble the bleachers, and the fence and handrails will be next.

These projects are in the phase one plan. One of the next projects is replacing the exterior doors and making safety improvements to the entrances. The school district was successful in obtaining a School Violence Prevention Program grant of $86,000 to help pay for these much-needed safety upgrades.

As they move into Phase two, the next project is replacing the classroom windows in the middle school and elementary schools. This work is out for bid at this time and a pre-bid meeting is set for Dec. 16. The due date for the bids is Jan. 4. Parker said the bids will be read and then the bidding companies will be vetted before the school board is asked to approve and accept one.

Also in his report to the board, because of COVID-19, the capacity at basketball games has been reduced. But people are still interested in watching the games so they have looked into streaming them online. Parker said other school districts in the area are streaming the games online. Facebook is not recommended. There are companies the school can use but there is a cost to it. Huddle YouTube costs $8,000.

Parker said there is a company that other schools in the area are using. He mentioned Tipton, Fatima, St. James, Owensville, and South Callaway. The company, National Federation Network, offers a free camera system and hardware that is put up in the gym for an initial fee of $1,500.

The streaming service is subscription-based as the viewers pay for the subscription at a price of $10.99 a month or an annual fee of $66.99. At this time and where the teams are in their season, it would be cheaper for families to pay by the month as half the season is gone. Next year the cost will be $4,000. Parker said the camera streaming system can do more than basketball games as it could do concerts and plays as well at no charge.

He didn’t know why Facebook is not recommended. Board member Cindy Petershagen wondered if it is because of negative comments people can make on Facebook.

Parker said with a regular camera system, it is a struggle to find someone to do the camera work and someone who is willing to take good care of it and be responsible for putting it up, taking it down, and properly putting it away. With the National Federation Network, the camera is put in one place and turns on to live-stream the event.

Parker said they aren’t sure where they will be with the coronavirus next year. With the National Federation Network, the camera and computer fee is $1,500 and the camera is up for five schools. If the school pays for everybody to watch this year it will cost an additional $1,500, and next year if they use the streaming service, the people can pay for their own subscriptions or it will cost the school $14,000 for everybody to watch with no subscriptions.

High School Principal Ian Murray checked and there are nine home games after Christmas. Murray commented the Vienna people are wearing masks in the gym, but the away fans don’t always wear them.

Parker said Allen Hillard Sports, Dixon, has been coming and streaming the games. It was suggested that Trace Clark might be willing to do the commentary along with what Hillard is doing. He’s very good at it.