BRIDGEPORT — Plans to utilize Bill Jobko Stadium again for high school varsity football games are underway, as The Kleingers Group has been performing a topographic study and flood study analysis of the facility.

“They started that about two weeks ago, so the process is underway,” Bridgeport Exempted Village Schools Superintendent Brent Ripley said Wednesday during a regular monthly board of education meeting held in the schools’ cafetorium with each board member sitting at their own 6-foot plastic table to practice social distancing amid coronavirus concerns. “When those are complete and assuming the flood study comes back positive, then the geotechnical study will begin.”

The five-member board voted unanimously to approve the agreement with The Kleingers Group.

The 100-year-old covered grandstands were torn down over the summer after an engineering firm from Wheeling did an assessment and concluded it was not safe for fans to sit in.

The district then attempted to purchase property adjacent to the school campus using eminent domain as a site for a new athletic complex. It would have included a football field, bleachers, locker rooms, restrooms, concessions and an all-weather track. However, the idea was met with much criticism and eventually abandoned.

Ripley also said two unnamed school district personnel had come into contact with a person believed to have the coronavirus. However, one of the employees returned to work Wednesday.

“Today was Day 15 for those people. They are showing no symptoms and feeling great,” Ripley said. “One of those individuals returned to work today.”

He said he received two phone calls concerning the individuals.

“The callers voiced legitimate concerns,” Ripley added. “One caller wanted the names of the individuals, but due to (Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act), I could not release those.”

The superintendent also said teachers in the district were to receive instructions on online schooling.

When asked about graduation, scheduled for late May, he said that is something near and dear to his heart.

“I have a son who is a senior (at Harrison Central), and he is really looking forward to that, as are a lot of students and their parents,” Ripley said. “We’ll wait and see what the ODE says, but I want these kids to have a graduation.”

In other business, the board also unanimously approved the following matters:

∫ A five-year contract for Greg Harkness as Central Office sssistant, effective with the start of the 2020-21 school year;

∫ A proposal from The Ohio Floor Co. to scrub and finish the John J. Havlicek Gymnasium floor;

∫ To increase the hourly wage for non-union employees holding supplemental contracts to $9.42 per hour, effective immediately. That will bump to $9.83 starting Aug. 1.

The next regular monthly board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. April 15.