The West Central Valley Community School District recently cleared up some confusion regarding the middle school bleacher project in Redfield. While there are still some kinks to work out completely, the district is back on track with proper construction for the project after a brief delay.

Superintendent Lance Ridgely says he would have liked to avoid this unusual start to his tenure at WCV, but thinks it will be a learning experience for the district going forward.

“The intent is all there. It’s all good. However, there’s some steps that weren’t gone through that really needed to be gone through and finding out about that a little bit mid August was not good for me. It was a big surprise and it was also a big surprise for the Board. It’s part of our learning process in learning to work together in that we want to operate in an atmosphere of no surprises. I know that this was a surprise for our communities as well.”

Ridgely says communication will be key to avoiding those surprises in the future. “As with anything, whether it’s in business, education, (or) at home with your family, communication is a huge thing. Really this project, the communication piece of it, was missing for a good portion of it.”

As previously reported, the delay was due to some complications including a lack of direct oversight from administration and underestimated project costs. The bleachers have been installed and are ready for use in Redfield. Though the press box may not placed until after the start of middle school football later this month.