IRON MOUNTAIN — The Iron Mountain School Board has approved an additional $500,000 for the Izzo-Mariucci Center HVAC project.

The increase brings the project’s total cost to $1.9 million. The district will receive an $800,000 grant, lowering its share to $1.1 million.

The increase is due to several things, including discovering locker rooms need updated energy recovery ventilators to meet code and the decision to add new boilers to the system now, rather than wait and have to replace them in a few years.

The main entryway will get new doors, flooring and lights, and a new trophy case will be installed. The A Street entrance will have new doors as well and cameras to make it more secure.

Money for the project will come from the Zanardi Trust Fund donation of about $4 million. That gift came in December 2023 from by the John V. and Frances M. Zanardi Family Trust, which also provided a similar grant to Breitung Township Schools.

After an infrastructure study, district officials developed a list of work that needs to be addressed in one to three years, three to five years and six to nine years.

Superintendent Jerry Sardina said they will do all they can with the Zanardi money, but may still have some major repairs in a few years that may require going to a referendum.

In other business, the board Monday:

— Accepted letters of retirement from longtime teachers Dale Powell of North Elementary and Rhonda Carey, a high school science teacher.

— Approved the district’s strategic plan that has spent several years on the back burner due to COVID-19 and a bond election, Sardina said. Sardina describes it as a “living document” that includes items such as the district’s mission statement and goals. It was created in part with a steering committee.

— Authorized Spanish language students taking an 11-day trip to Spain in June 2026. Cost will be about $4,880 for each student. They plan to have fundraisers to help cover some of the expense. They will be traveling with students from Kingsford and Florence, Wis., schools.