MARQUETTE — New refrigerators, swing sets and lower athletic fees will be coming to Marquette Area Public Schools as voted by the board of education at its Monday meeting.

Regarding a Bothwell Middle School construction project, GEI Consultants’ Isaac Roberts said, “It was discovered that the (variable frequency drives) are reaching their near end-of-life.”

A VFD is a component used for large motors in the school that controls the flow of voltage, allowing the motors to gradually start up to operating use speeds, then slowly turn off, prolonging the efficiency and life of the motors themselves.

“The VFDs are far less expensive than replacing new motors,” Roberts said.

He cited the life expectancy of a VFD as 20 to 25 years, with the Bothwell VFDs coming in at 20 years of use. Roberts told the board it would be cheaper to pass a motion now than during an emergency that would include the replacement price of $47,800 from Johnson Controls.

“If another VFD goes, then it’ll be kind of an emergency replacement, where right now you already have a contractor on-site and is willing to do the work,” Roberts said.

“Rather than put it out to bid or try to do part within a contingency, we thought it’d be easier to more or less modify or revise the proposal so that we could get it all done,” said Superintendent Zack Sedgwick, recommending Roberts’ suggestion.

The board unanimously approved the cost of the VFD repairs.

As for Sandy Knoll Elementary School, an estimate from playground equipment supplier Penchura amounted to nearly $40,000 for a replacement of all failed and aging equipment. The equipment that can be ready for the next academic year are two swing sets, a five- to six-person seesaw called a We-saw and a greenhouse. Additional equipment will be ready for the 2025-26 school year.

To the delight of Sandy Knoll principal Stacy Brock, in attendance at the meeting, the board unanimously approved the purchases.

“I can’t wait to see the new equipment at Sandy Knoll and play on it,” said board member Cheryl Maddox-Smith. “(I’m) just looking forward to all the changes and hard work put in by the board and the public.”

Due to the universal meal program providing free lunches for students, MAPS currently has an surplus food service fund balance of about $240,000. Assistant Superintendent Jim Lampman and food service manager Christopher Collins brought to the board’s attention that the current milk coolers across the district are of “unknown age” and have needed multiple repairs throughout the academic year.

“Sometimes the cost of a repair on one of these units is almost half the cost of a new unit altogether,” Collins said.

One company, Hiawatha Chef, Bar and Janitorial Supply of Escanaba, submitted a bid of $43,510 for 13 refrigeration units with no additional cost to install. These units would be forced-air refrigeration units as opposed to the current cold-wall units that cause milk to freeze during humid weather.

Board members unanimously approved the bid from Hiawatha Chef, Bar and Janitorial Supply.

Regarding the school logo and nickname rebranding process, board President Kristen Cambensy said the board hopes to choose a logo by the end of the academic year and implement it for the 2024-25 year.

Board member Jason Zdunek made a motion to reduce the $800 family cap for Marquette Senior High School athletic pay-to-play fees to $500 per family and reduce the per-sport activity percentage for district-funded sports and activities by 25%. The reduction would result in savings of approximately $30,000 total for all MAPS families.

Board member James Hewitt suggested the board enact these fee reductions for the 2024-25 school year and revisit the policy each subsequent year.

Zdunek’s motion was approved unanimously.

The board then moved to closed session to consider a letter from its attorney dated April 18.