Spencer school board members and Friends of the Old Spencer High School Auditorium representatives advanced their discussions pertaining to potential upgrades to the Spencer Middle School auditorium somewhat Tuesday night as the board unanimously approved drawing up a more-formal written agreement with the "Friends" in regard to future responsibilities of both parties and committing up to $36,000 for a facility study.

At issue is a tentative agreement for district representatives to upgrade the existing facility,

which closed following the 2005-06 school year, and the intent of the Friends group -- which includes Julie Schmidt, Martin Arthur, Sheriffa Jones and Ann Holck -- to renovate its auditorium and adjunct spaces as an improved performing arts and conferencing complex, while retaining and restoring the historic aspects of the facility.

Tuesday night's discussion centered around a requested proposal from Ed Storm of FEH Associates Inc. for professional services with regard to the potential renovation of the Spencer Middle School auditorium.

In the five-page proposal, Storm outlined his company's scope of services for the proposed facility study. The cost for this was reduced from $60,000 to a total fee not to exceed $45,000 plus reimbursable expenses, which Storm calculated at $2,500. Storm also drafted a suggested division of work for the proposed renovation and upgrading project.

Addressing the building's aged heating system, establishing a backstage shop, verification of the condition of stage rigging in the auditorium, addressing plumbing and restroom issues, directing handicap accessibility and code issues surrounding the building's fire alarm system, focusing on modifications of the building resulting from sharing space with Community Housing Initiatives for new housing on the building's west wing, and tackling building condition issues -- such as roofing, the integrity of the exterior masonry and asbestos remediation -- were listed as school board responsibilities in Storm's proposal.

The FEH representative listed historical aspects of the project, the air conditioning system and theatrical components of the project, such as the creation of dressing rooms and a black box theater, implementation of a stage extension, lighting and power upgrades as proposed responsibilities of the Friends group.

Based on this preliminary division of projects, Storm suggested the facility study fee could be assigned so that the school board would take on 60 percent and the Friends group would assume 40 percent of it.

"We understand that a definite schedule has not currently been developed," Storm wrote in his company's proposal. "But our intent would be to complete the facility study within six months from your written notice to proceed."

When it was mentioned that the Friends group does not have set fund-raising plans in place yet, Arthur answered the question of how they felt about raising $18,000 for this study by saying, "It should be a good test." Arthur also indicated they have tentative plans to host a couple concerts in the building's auditorium as a way to raise money for the eventual effort they'd like to undertake.

With no action taken on a motion made by Ed Ver Steeg and seconded by Les Zobrist to spend money on the study and enter into a binding agreement with the Friends group outlining responsibilities of both parties and how the non-profit 501(c)(3) organization would repay the district for this study, school board members unanimously chose to set the wheels in motion for FEH to start the predesign study by committing up to $36,000 in School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) or Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds to pay for the district's proposed portion of the study fee. This amount, they agreed, would be subject to approval by all four of the Friends representatives. In the meantime, an agreement between both parties is anticipated to be drawn up.

In other discussion during Tuesday night's board meeting:

* Spencer Elementary Principal Lucas DeWitt indicated one of the district's elementary-level focuses this school year will be to continue with "explicit instruction of comprehensive strategies."

* Spencer Middle School Principal Steve Barber reported, "At the middle school, we're going to really focus on using MAP data to look at our (student) growth and improvements. ... We're also looking at kids that do not reach grade level on their fall MAP reading score, and then really look at a percentage of those kids improving at least at average growth target. If we achieve that goal, then we're closing that gap. That's kind of what we're going to focus on this year, as well as work really hard with our professional development."

* Spencer High School Principal Joe Mueting stated that Jade Beehler, the high school building's assistant principal, has been named the Prairie Lakes AEA 8 Assistant Principal of the Year. Mueting also mentioned that the building's German ICN class, which started Monday and is being proctored by Monica Johannsen, has 20 freshmen and nine 10th through 12th grade students enrolled in it.