Federal funding freeze might impact storm shelter/gym for NV

A community storm shelter at Nodaway Valley High School that would also serve as a competition gym for the school may get put on hold, depending on activity in the federal government.

Superintendent Paul Croghan talked about the project during the Thursday, Feb. 13 school board meeting in Fontanelle.

Over half of the project would be paid for through grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As a result, the district would only have to pay a fraction of the total cost of the structure that would be built on the south side of the high school where a parking lot currently sits. Conceptual drawings of the project are not available yet.

President Donald Trump recently ordered some federal funding to be frozen. While that is still a topic hanging in the balance, projects like theone Nodaway Valley is looking at could have their timing jeopardized.

“I’m not saying it’s 100% that you’re going to get [this funding], but they were waiting for the notice of funding and it finally came. Then all this stuff at the federal level started happening, so nobody knows if it’s going to happen or not,” Croghan said. “We had a pretty good sense prior to this, now we’re not sure.”

Only storm shelter-essential items within this project would be covered under the grant. Items such as bleachers or baskets that are needed for a gym would need to be paid for with other means. The structure would include heavy-duty doors that can withstand a tornado and be equipped with a generator.

“It would be my recommendation that you tie a general obligation bond (over a year from now), and if you do it then, I think it could go forward,” Croghan said. There is a possibility that by then, the board could be configured different than it is now due to Orient-Macksburg’s pending dissolution.

“You have to commit that you’ll take care of overages. When I say that, I mean anything that’s not essential. Those will add up faster than you think. For example, you don’t need a wood floor in a safe room but you need a wood floor in a competition gym,” Croghan said. “You never think ceiling tiles are non-essential, but it is [for a storm shelter].”

Other communities impacted by tornadoes have built storm shelters like these in the past. Croghan has been able to see a few in person in working out this possible project.

The board recently submitted priorities they have for facilities. A couple of top priorities are outdoor scoreboards and modernizing the lighting for the high school auditorium. While the lighting won’t be done in time for graduation week events this year, it is high on the list for completion, Croghan said.

In other news, the board:

• approved resignations of paras Emma Dunmire and MaRae Menefee, middle school softball coach Kamryn Nourse, high school teacher Ryan Summers and winter strength and conditioning coach Jack West, and hired West as the assistant girls and boys track coach

• approved a budget guarantee for 2025-26, which is for districts with declining enrollment

• approved grade and building alignments for 2025-26

• approved the search firm contract with McPherson and Jacobson

• approved a resolution for the Hazard Mitigation Plan

• approved an out of state trip for seventh graders to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo