Board approves new middle school greenhouse; funding includes donation and FFA grant

The Marshall Public Schools Board approved the purchase of a middle‑school greenhouse from Wisconsin Greenhouse and discussed funding and site work needed to install the structure.

The greenhouse committee recommended the purchase and told the board the vendor would supply the greenhouse for an amount presented in the packet. Staff identified a $100,000 donation from Ford and an FFA grant as funding sources and said approximately $120,000 in project funding is available to cover the greenhouse and related site work (concrete, electrical, plumbing). During the discussion trustees asked whether the greenhouse replaced an existing facility; staff said it is a new installation at the middle school and that one older greenhouse once existed elsewhere decades ago.

Board members asked whether the secured funds would cover site preparation costs; staff said bids for concrete, electrical and plumbing were being collected and that about $46,000 of the available funds could be used toward those site preparations. Staff said they had difficulty finding greenhouse vendors and had secured Wisconsin Greenhouse to supply the structure.

The board approved the purchase (motion by Mark Mihalka, supported by Derek Allen). Staff said the greenhouse will serve as a hands‑on learning laboratory to support agricultural education and FFA programs and that additional bids for site work will be returned to the board as the project proceeds.