Continuing work on the Fort Dodge Community School District’s new transportation location headlined the Monday meeting of the district’s board.

Maintenance Director Ryan Utley presented a pair of change orders for the project. The first dealt with running electrical conduit under the garage where the vans are parked to have lighting for the area. The second was for tying into the city’s sewer system through a spot on the location due to the current system failing.

“We are also adding some more light poles and replacing some concrete around the gas pumps that had taken a lot of rain in the past couple of months,” Utley said.

Both items passed at a cost of $1,251.03 for the conduit work and $96,830.81 for the sewer work.

Transportation discussion resumed with Transportation Director Brad Niemeyer giving an update on the busing situation so far in 2025-26.

“I start with good news, as we have all new buses with air conditioning,” he said. “The activity trips do appreciate this. We are still finalizing the MyRide app for parents. They can be interactive with the process, but we still need to deal with some GPS problems with a few providers that will allow families to see where the buses are in real time.”

He added that the current driver staffing is going okay with only four open routes remaining at this time.

In other action items, the board:

∫ Approved updating the Aruba Network switches at Duncombe Elementary School at a cost of $106,654.96. According to Technology Director Kevin Bailey, the switches were needed as the current equipment does not have any more parts available for repair.

“This will come up again at other district sites,” he said. “We’re just taking it one at a time.”

∫ Approved the installation of new security cameras for the transportation department. “This upgrade gives us a chance for facial recognition and more angles to see,” Bailey said. The cost of the project was $33,884.

∫ Approved the August financial reports presented by Brandon Hansel, executive director of financial services. Revenue for the month was $32,000 with expenses of $2.5 million. “This is typical for August because it’s the last month before we get state aid,” he said. “We’ve also been able to close the books on last fiscal year.”

Superintendent Josh Porter discussed home volleyball and football at high school this week. He also talked about opportunities he and Hansel will have in the coming weeks at several community service organizations about the bond referendum.

“We just keep finding new ways to get the word out with the vote coming up soon,” he said.