One southeast Iowa school district is looking to the public for help to improve its aging facilities.
Burlington-Notre Dame has launched its "Faith in our Future" capital campaign with an overall goal of raising $2.4-million.
Development Director Val Giannettino said that's what it will take to modernize the junior/senior high school, which was built in 1957, and the elementary school, which is about 20 years old.
"Time has a way of passing us quickly. We find ourselves at (Burlington) Notre Dame at an important crossroads with some much needed improvements in order to keep up with the pace of 21st century education."
Giannettino said much of the money will be spent on the junior/senior high school. The list of upgrades include air conditioning for classrooms, new lockers, technology and electrical overhauls and security cameras.
Iowa Fertilizer Company announced a $15,000 donation to the campaign this month. That money is designated for the high school science labs. Giannettino said the teachers say those labs are lacking in safety protocols.
"The big thing is to bring the science labs up to date on safety," said Giannettino. "Many experiments, unfortunately, (teachers) refuse to do because they don't have the safety measures available in case there would be an unfortunate accident."
Burlington-Notre Dame hopes to wrap up the capital campaign this spring so work can begin when the students leave for summer break.
