Mifflinburg school board advances stadium entry bids, approves 2026-27 calendar

Sealed bids for Mifflinburg Area School District’s new stadium entry were due at 11 a.m. April 9, moving the project out of planning and into procurement as the board weighed how the athletic complex will affect traffic, access and event operations at the Mifflinburg campus. Bid documents were available March 2, and the package directed submissions to School Business Administrator Renee M. Jilinski at 178 Maple St., Mifflinburg, PA 17844.

The bid action came alongside the district’s 2026-27 student calendar, which the board tied to its April 14 meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Intermediate School LGI. The calendar gives families an early look at the next school year, including a first day in August, an end-of-year period in June 2027 and the possibility of up to five Flexible Instruction Days. For parents balancing work schedules, bus routines, childcare and athletics, those dates shape planning long before the first bell rings.

The stadium work is part of a broader athletic complex effort that has been building for years. In the district’s earlier sponsorship packet, Phase I included a synthetic track, turf field, ticket booth area, fencing, infrastructure and a scoreboard. Phase II would add a press box, lighting, public restrooms, locker rooms, a concession stand and football integration. The district said it had gone about a decade without hosting home track and field events, and in 2023 athletic director Danielle Dressler said Mifflinburg had not hosted a home track meet since about 2012, forcing athletes to travel to Midd-West for competition.

That same 2023 discussion put the project’s price tag at about $7.5 million across two phases, with $3.5 million for Phase I and $4 million for Phase II. The district’s fundraising effort, called the “1,000 for $1,000” campaign, is intended to raise the first $1 million for the new athletic facility through the Mifflinburg Wildcat Fund. The latest bid package and insurance action suggest the district is now pushing the project toward the point where actual construction decisions matter as much as fundraising goals.

The board’s April 14 agenda also showed the cost pressure behind those choices. Members approved a preliminary 2026-27 budget with $40,608,960 in revenue and $40,531,132 in expenditures. If adopted in June, the proposed millage rate would rise from 15.569 to 15.84. The board also authorized the business administrator to seek and purchase builders risk insurance for the new stadium entry, bleachers, turf and lighting, another sign that the athletic complex is moving from concept to implementation while the district sets next year’s academic calendar in tandem.