The school board approved a bid from Musco for $288,000 for new lights, poles and speaker brackets at Beatty Field. Capital Electric will be involved in the project as well.

Monday’s bid passed, 5-1, with Justin Sturgeon voting against. Chris Gratton was absent.

Sturgeon said he thought approving the purchase before the board met to discuss rankings of potential district capital outlay projects later this month made for bad optics.

Superintendent Loren Feldkamp said the current lighting structure were thought to have originally installed in the early 90s.

Fellow Board Member said he thought the purchase made sense at this time because it involved “maintaining what you already have” as a top priority.

Board Member Stephanie Shupe said she thought the move was proactive.

Maintaining what you already have is top priority.

The board also approved refinancing of various bonds in late March that potentially could save the district anywhere from $1.6 million to $1.9 million over time.

Installation of lights is expected to take anywhere from six to nine weeks to complete.