The Newton Municipal School District Board of Trustees have locked in pricing for a few Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief projects and contracts for most of their certified staff for the 2022-2023 school year.
During a special called meeting on March 8, the trustees approved contracts for its ERA Fiber Bandwidth project, window replacement project and a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning at Pilate Middle School’s gymnasium.
The fiber project was awarded to Network Cabling Solutions for $26,109.95. Board attorney Brian Mayo said they had another bid that was lower than that, but the bid did not meet specs.
The HVAC bid was awarded to World ADC Heating and Air Conditioning for $224,500. Several of the board members expressed concerns over the bid, as it was considerably lower than next closest bid, which was close to a total amount of $500,000.
However, Superintendent Glenda Nickson said the company who provided the lowest bids met the specifications outlined in the bid.
“We met with them several times and went over the specifications of the project,” Nickson said. “They were well aware of what we wanted in this project.”
Nickson said this project has been bid out twice before, but both previous attempts to award the contract were unsuccessful, as the lowest bids went over budget. Once the bid for the HVAC came in at an acceptable level, Nickson wanted to call a meeting so that they could approve the projects.
“We wanted to go ahead and lock in these prices before they go up,” Nickson said. “That’s what everyone is facing right now. Prices are going up.”
An $844,200 bid to replace windows in the cafeteria by William A. Traxler was approved at the last board meeting in February. The board approved the contract for the window installation.
Lastly, the board approved certified contracts for almost all of the teachers for the upcoming school year. Nickson said they have “all but one or two” teachers and certified personnel locking into contracts for the upcoming school year. However, if a pay raise is passed by the legislature, Nickson said they will have to amend the contracts to reflect the pay raise.
“We wanted to make sure that we had everyone locked in for the upcoming school year before spring break,” Nickson said.
Nickson, prompted by new board member James Peters who took the place of Alice Dawkins-Hopson, said the contracts do include several teachers who are up for certification renewal. She said those contracts are pending renewal by the State Department of Education.
“Every five years, you have to renew your certification,” Nickson said. “You have to take classes of continuing education, or you might go back to school to complete a master’s degree, and that degree would satisfy those classes. They have until June 30 to renew those licenses. Most of those have already been submitted to the state, and we are just waiting to hear back from them.”
If the licenses are not renewed by June 30, Nickson said the contracts will be voided.
Also, Peters took the oath of office and to begin his five-year term on the board of trustees.
