 Board members present were Kenny Golden, president; Ben Roland, vice
president; Tina Warfel; Larry Hall; Leslie Starasta; Kenda Kitner;
and Mark Mathon. Superintendent Jennifer Hamm was also present.
The board looked at the contracts with CTS and BLDD for the upcoming
renovations. After the special meeting on March 12, the board was
able to finalize the list of deductions from the overall plan,
bringing those to a total of $88,000 in deductions. There may be
more deducted as construction occurs, should the companies find ways
to make improvements for less money.
At the meeting of the school board in April, the board members
are expecting to sign both a contract and a change-order form for
the deductions. The actual contract with Christy-Foltz will show a
total of $664,131, which does not include the deductions.
Christy-Foltz is the construction company that will do the actual
work on the building.
The board also approved a contract with Great Western Abatement
Asbestos Removal. This company was the second-lowest bidder for the
abatement, with a total cost of $109,000. The lowest bidder backed
out of the bid due to travel concerns.
After doing the math, Hamm was able to provide the board with a
grand total for the projects: $2,733,500. This amount is $33,500
over the budgeted amount. However, Hamm remained optimistic, saying
that only exceeding projections by that much is still very
reasonable. The superintendent also thanked CTS and BLDD for their
work in trying to help the school find the best pricing options.
Also a topic for discussion was the list of fees for the
2013-2014 school year. The cost of lunch will increase by 10 cents
per student. This is a state-mandated increase, with 10 cents being
the minimum increase. Hamm said that while there will not be any new
fees for sports or activities, the school may have to consider
taking such action in the future.
At the beginning of the meeting, before the board began talking
about the contracts, two members of the public stepped forward to
make comments.
The first person to speak was Allen Shew. He began by saying he
had some general observations. He said from his perspective, voters
in Logan County have in the past always voted to approve renovations
to the school.
Shew also said the board has made great efforts to gather the
right people to work on the renovation issues over several years. He
said the public may not be privy to all of the information the board
goes through, but it is obvious that the members have done a great
deal of research to get the most out of their money.
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Shew said most people seem to equate board members with
politicians, and he remembers when his father was on the school
board.
"My father was on this board a long time ago. He wasn't paid and
I suspect you aren't being paid either," Shew said. "There's no
politics involved. Your only purpose at being at this table now is
to do the best you can at the present time for the students," he
said, and he commended the board for their efforts thus far.
The second speaker was Jill Urish, a second-grade teacher at CEL.
She wanted to address a statement made at the special meeting on
March 12.
"The statement that morale is at an all-time low is not a
statement that I, or any of the teachers, agree with," Urish said.
She said she cannot speak for the entire staff and faculty of the
school, but she feels that both sides need to have their say.
"How can someone who is not part of the staff, does not have
children attending the school, and has not visited the school during
the school day feel qualified to speak for individuals who are here
on a daily basis?" Urish asked.
She also said that the board members are not to blame for the
hardships the school faces currently; the board can only try to
adapt to government requirements as they come along. Urish added
that, as with any other job, there are both good and bad days, and
she would not rather be anywhere else than the school.
"What is hurtful to morale is the constant attacks that make
front-page news," she said. Urish added that people should be proud
of the efforts being made by the school, despite the difficulties
they face due to harsh regulations.
Superintendent Hamm's report told the board that ISAT testing
recently ended, and she echoed the feelings of frustration the
students experienced. The difficulty of the tests increased this
year due to higher state standards. Overall, the school is expecting
to see lower test scores because of the difficulty, and a letter
explaining the situation will be sent home with the report cards.
[By DEREK HURLEY] |
