A proposal for an onsite clinic for employees of Albert Lea Area Schools cleared a hurdle Monday.

The school board passed a motion Monday allowing the district to move forward with a bidding process for a clinic at Brookside Education Center, which is a round building that houses administration, Community Education, Head Start, the alternative high school, a gymnasium, a climbing wall and an array of other district services. It is a former middle school.

The space that the district is looking to develop is a former girls’ locker room. Health Partners, the company that handles the district’s health plan, estimated that the construction project would cost around $100,000. The clinic would serve district employees and possibly their families.

Superintendent Mike Funk said more information would be shared at a later date and said the clinic was on Monday’s agenda solely so the district could start getting construction bids.

“We owe the board more information than we currently have,” Funk said.

The space would be a completely new-developed area and would include two exam rooms, an office, a lab and storage. The locker room is currently being used as storage.

The board had concerns about having the clinic at Brookside, noting the majority of district employees work at other buildings. Funk said admininstrators wanted it be at Brookside because of the lack of space in other buildings.

Director of Finance and Operations Lori Volz said the Red Wing school district has a clinic in a building that didn’t house much of its staff and said its clinic has been well-received.

Director of Facilities Steve Anderson backed Brookside as the best option for the district.

“It’s a good location cost-wise for the build out,” he said.

Volz said other companies in Albert Lea are also exploring having their own clinics, and said it was a possibility for the district to partner up with one of those businesses. She added it would be important to have a partner at the beginning, however.

The district’s health plan currently covers somewhere between 800 and 900 people. The clinic would be staffed by a physicians assistant who the district would hire.

In other action the board:

• Heard a report from board member Mark Ciota about the Minnesota State High School League conference. Next year’s prep football playoffs will start one week earlier and the Prep Bowl will be at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium, due to the demolition of the Metrodome. State soccer will take place at St. Cloud State University.

• Approved a bid of $124,384 for exterior wall rehabilitation at Southwest Middle School.

• Looked at future board topics for 2014. Some topics include improvements to the Hammer Field complex and elementary athletic fields and technology integration planning.

• Approved the third reading of the district’s physical and sexual abuse policy.