October 11, 2019 Issue, Page 1 of 12

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Serving Western Oklahoma Since 1901 Weekend Edition Kelsey Merz, middle, Commission approves new Elk City Pub- lic Schools board synthetic turf for ballfields member, stands with board members, from left, Kris Waters, Jim Blevins, Bran- don Storm and Kirby McBroom and Super- intendent Rick Gar- rison and Assistant Superintendent Cindy Buckmaster. Merz re- places Darin Schmidt, who held Seat 4. Staff This ballfield at the baseball 5-plex will soon photo by Don Munsch have synthetic turf. Other ballfields in Elk City will be getting synthetic turf, too. Staff photo by Don Munsch. By Don Munsch, Editor School board appoints new member Elk City City Commissioners gave the green light Mon- day for the city to purchase synthetic turf for ballfields at the Softball 5-Plex, Baseball 5-Plex and the Ackley Park By Don Munsch, Editor The remediation report details students who did not score baseball field. The Elk City Public School board approved appointing a acertain mark on the ACT for the state university admission Commissioners unanimously approved the bid of new board member Monday. process, and those students have to take zero hour classes, $5,499,000 to Hellas Construction Inc., based in Austin, Kelsey Merz replaces Darin Schmidt, Seat 4, who resigned Lewallen said. Data from 2017, the latest year given at the Texas. City Manager Lee Litterell said Hellas meet the his seat last month because of his purchase of a home outside meeting, show 52 ECHS students who graduated that year city’s specs for what it wanted in the turf. Determining of the district. Merz took the oath of office during the meet- who had to go through remediation. Elk City’s remediation factors in the company being awarded the contract were ing and took a seat on the dais. Also during the meeting, Kris numbers were lower, though, than that of many other area experience and design, price, synthetic turf systems and Waters was voted vice president by the board. Schmidt had school, including several that are in the school’s district for warranty. Three other companies submitted bids, accord- previously been vice president. He had served since 2012. sports. ing to city information. Merz was the only individual from the Seat 4 district to On the dropout rate, the school had eight dropouts in the The fields should be completed by Feb. 1, said David submit her name for consideration, said Elk City Public graduating class of 2018, during a time period that spanned Fisher, business development director for Hellas. Work Schools Superintendent Rick Garrison. 2014-18. Four of those were ninth-graders who went to on the fields began today. Community Action Project She gave multiple reasons for wanting to join the board. Plans money will pay for the fields’ turf. “P've always had a passion for community outreach and home schooling in 2014, and the other four just didn’t finish A city agenda memo stated the money for the fields philanthropic events,” she said. “I have young kids entering high school, Lewallen said. would pay for 685,066 square feet of synthetic turf on the school system, and so Elk City Public Schools is going “ft’s a right for parents to home school their kids, and now five softball fields, five baseball fields, six T-ball fields to be a part of my family over the next 17-18 years. So, it they have to provide documentation that they’re actually do- and Ackley baseball park field. Money in the project was an opportunity for me to get involved.” Merz has two ing that — they didn’t have to back in 2014,” he said. “I’m re- will pay for new T-balls fields at the baseball complex children, with the oldest in pre-kindergarten. ally proud that we only had four kids. Four kids is too many, complete with three bleacher stands and six dugouts with She said Schmidt was an asset to the board, and she hopes but four out of 135 is pretty good.” fencing and concrete slabs and new sidewalks. to be effective as he was. Total dropout rate has fallen significantly for the Elk City City officials said the newly turfed fields mean the city In other developments, Jeff Lewallen, principal of Elk district, statistics show, from 27 in 2013-14 to 8 in the cur- would have an opportunity to draw numerous tourna- City High School, gave the board some information on the rent or latest reporting period. ments while cutting the amount of money spent on high school’s dropout rate during a presentation of the dis- The board also approved action to revise policies on online See Ballfield page 2. trict’s Dropout & College Remediation Report. See New member page 2. Fire department educates children on safety _——— es & DeAun Ivester, librarian at Elk City Carnegie Library, stands behind some books to be sold at the annual sale today and Saturday. The li- brary sale also will include tickets for a raffle for a quilt. Staff photo by Don Munsch. Children in the lower grades got lessons from Elk City Library to hold Fire Department in the early afternoon, while their school Above, first-grader Kix Keyes is helped to his feet by someone in robot gear during a pre- mates in the upper grades were visited by ECFD personnel in the morning. An individual dressed in a Sparky costume annual book sale sentation at an afternoon assembly at Elk City greeted children, By Don Munsch, Editor Elementary School. Right, pre-kindergarten “We're coming to school to teach you about how to get out Elk City Carnegie Library will have its annual Friends of of your house safely, what to use as a detector of smoke and the Library Book Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sat- students, from left, Jordan Lockler, Teegan urday at Carnegie Hall, located at 215 W. Broadway. how to crawl around on the floor to get out of your house,” Shipman, Riya Patel and Declan Brown greet ECFD Battalion Chief Wayne Poole said in the gym during Books will be sold from a price range of 50 cents to $2. Sparky. Staff photos by Don Munsch. the afternoon session, noting other activities that the ECFD The money from the sales will go to the Friends of the Li- brary for its annual fundraiser. By Don Munsch, Editor would do, including a skit. The fundraiser fills in the gaps in the library budget by Stop, drop and roll. That skit involved a comedy bit involving a robot who re- paying for items the library needs, said librarian DeAun Children did that fire emergency exercise and learned vealed a few dance moves, including the dab and the floss. Ivester. Expenses that have been paid for from the fund- other vital information about fires during a Fire Prevention Poole showed a map of a home and gave instructions on what children should do in case of a fire in their home, such raiser have included computers in the children’s library and Week event Tuesday at Elk City Elementary School. as getting low to floor during their escape and breaking a costs for the summer reading program. Fire Prevention Week, recognized nationally, runs through window if need be. Once they would get outside, the chil- A variety of items will be sold at the fundraiser. Saturday and seeks to inform the public about safety, espe- dren were quizzed about what they should do next, and sev- “We've got hardbacks, paperbacks, audios, DVDs, kids cially safety in the home. The National Fire Protection Asso- books,” Ivester said. ciation announced the theme for this year’s Fire Prevention eral knew they should call 9-1-1. Week revolves around people creating a home fire escape A few children participated in a stop, drop and roll tech The hardcovers are $2, softcovers are $1 and paperbacks plan. See Fire prevention page 2. See Book sale page 2. Weathe Ce Vol. 117, No. 82 Mail delivery View online ; | UU ; tomorcl 4 / 42 75 cents, 12 pgs. 580.225.3000 elkcityoknews.com