progress: SPORTS & EDUCATION
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CHARLES CITY PRESS | WWW.CHARLESCITYPRESS.COM | TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2025
Comet softball coach picks up 500th win in 2024 Press photo by John Burbridge Veteran Comet coach Brian Bohlen picked up his 500th coach- ing victory (all at Charles City) early last season.
Supt. Burnight reflects on his first school year in Charles City Press photo by Travis Fischer Bruce Bergland was one of a dozen public speakers encouraging the Charles City School Board to aim higher with plans for high school improvements during its regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 10.
By Travis Fischer tk fi scher@charlescitypress.com
The rating change doesn’t re fl ect a change in student performance compared to previous years, but rather a change in how subgroups of students are factored in, school of fi cials said. Previously, schools with signi fi cant sub- groups of students – such as students liv- ing in poverty, non-English speaking stu- dents, racial minorities and students with Individualized Educational Plans – did not have those subgroups counted against the district’s overall rating. This year, that has changed, resulting in the lower rating. As a result, the district has refocused efforts on identifying students that need extra help and working with them to bring their performance up. “I think we’ve made some nice strides there,” said Burnight. Beyond budgets and academics, much of the district’s attention has been on devel- oping a plan to address the infrastructure needs of the aging high school building. The district previously attempted to bond for a $28 million complete renova- tion project that included the construction of a new auditorium. However, the vote for that bond did not pass. Going back to the drawing board, the district at least temporarily scaled down its ambitions, focusing on the development of a project that would address the high school building’s most immediate needs – in particular, new heating, ventilation, cooling and electrical work. Developed by engineering consulting fi rm MODUS, the new infrastructure plan will cost the district $4-5 million over fi ve years, which can be bonded for without having to take a referendum to the voters. Initial discussions indicated that this would be the extent of the district’s infra-
structure commitments for the remainder of the decade and that a second attempt at a large scale renovation of the high school would wait until the district had paid off the MODUS plan, along with the remain- der of the middle school bond. However, public response has since spurred the board to immediately begin work on that next step. MOST RECENTLY, THE DISTRICT has ap- proved an agreement with FEH Design to begin preliminary work on a comprehen- sive renovation to move on sooner, rather than later. While still in the very early stages, the district does have a head start in decid- ing what it wants out of a remodel project thanks to the work that has already been done from previous attempts. “I think many of the ideas in the last plan will cross over into the work,” said Burnight. One of the major areas of interest about the plan is whether or not an auditorium will be included in the project. While there is a strong core group in the community advocating for the construction of a new auditorium, tying the project to the high school renovations may not be in the plans this time around. “Right now it’s more a remodel discus- sion,” said Burnight. Moving forward, Burnight said he thinks that a bond measure for a high school re- model can be prepared in time to get on the ballot for this year’s general election in November. “I’m real optimistic about going through the process,” said Burnight. “I think there’s a scenario where I can bring some- thing forward to the voters.”
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com With a shortened 10-0 win over Clear Lake early last soft- ball season, Charles City head coach Brian Bohlen picked up his 500th coaching win. Bohlen and his Comets added a few more after that as Charles City fi nished with a 25-6 re- cord after falling to Clear Creek Amana in the second round of the Class 4A regionals. Bohlen will be heading into his 23rd season leading the
Comets. His teams have ad- vanced to the State Softball Championships six times in- cluding a span of fi ve in a row from 2016 to 2020 with a third- place showing in 2019. That year (2019), Bohlen picked up his 400th win during a road victory against Forest City. Bohlen may have a long road ahead of him if he wants to catch legendary Cedar Rapids SOFTBALL , turn to page B6
As spring approaches and graduation nears, Dr. Brian Burnight is looking for- ward to the conclusion of his fi rst year as the superintendent of the Charles City Community School District. Burnight started his position in June 2024 and hit the ground running as the dis- trict faced a third year of budget shortfalls. “Initially my goals were getting the fi - nancial ship righted,” he said. Going into June, the district had more than a million dollars in expected expen- ditures than it had funding for to get to the end of the fi scal year. “We were able to realize that $1.5 mil- lion in savings over the summer,” said Burnight. “I think the fi nancial piece has been really positive.” Another summer project to tackle was transportation policy. To both save money and address the shortage of drivers, changes in the dis- trict’s transportation plan eliminated in- town street corner pickup along with sev- eral shuttle routes. However, the reduction in transportation options prompted concern from both par- ents and school board members alike, lead- ing to the establishment of several dropoff and pickup points around the city. GOING INTO THE SCHOOL YEAR, the aca- demic status quo has remained largely the same, though a change in the way the Iowa Department of Education assesses perfor- mance did result in lower category ratings, with the middle school being rated as “Needs Improvement” and the high school and Lincoln Elementary being rated as a “Priority” school.
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