School board approves parking lot bids at special meeting

School board members approved two separate bids for improvements to the bus garage parking lot and the intermediate school parking lot during a special meeting in Superintendent Ken Ramey's office on Thursday.

Assistant Superintendent Jody Wiggins recommended the board choose Diamond C Construction of Gentry, the low bidder on both instances, for the two projects.

Diamond C Construction bid $487,000 for the bus garage parking lot expansion, and $223,600 for the Intermediate School parking lot improvements, compared to bids of $500,199 and $239,271 from Ground Zero Construction, the only other company to bid on the project.

Wiggins said the two projects cost more than originally expected because core samples showed the base layers were insufficient in several areas in both parking lots and would have to be torn up and replaced from scratch. The construction company will also have to excavate two feet in the areas the bus parking lot is expanding and refill it with a base layer. Once the base layers are complete, the entire parking lot will get a 1.5-inch concrete overlay, with a 3-inch overlay in high traffic areas.

The bus garage parking lot will also include adding seven new bus plugs, and relocating and updating existing plugs to confirm with current standards, according to architect Mike Spaeth.

The two projects are scheduled to be complete by Aug. 5, Spaeth said. He called the deadline, which allows for some inclement weather days, "tight, but doable." Overtime work is figured into the budget, which also drives up the cost, Wiggins said.

The school is waiting on approval for the projects from the City Board, which will next meet on June 7. School buses will be moved and parked in the fenced lot of a trucking company while the work takes place.

In other business, the school board approved a bid of $145,897 from Alliant Insurance Services Inc. for the district's building and content insurance. Arkansas Insurance Department Risk Management Division, the only other company to bid, submitted a bid of $168,073.

Terri Raskiewicz, chief financial officer for the district, said it gets harder and harder each year to find a company that insures buildings and content for large institutions because of the risk. She recommended Alliant Insurance Services because of their high rating.

The school board took the following additional actions:

• Accepted the resignations of Taylor Wellborn, Intermediate School special education teacher; Melissa Williams, Intermediate School fifth-grade math and science teacher; Jerry Williams, Intermediate School special education teacher; Ali Spilman, Middle School art teacher; Bartley Herring, Northside Elementary School prekindergarten teacher; Kendall Butler, Northside Elementary School kindergarten teacher; Barb Macken, Northside Elementary School counselor; and Chelsea Garrison, Allen Elementary School second-grade teacher.

• Hired the following kindergarten teachers to work at Northside Elementary: Devon Tucker, Sarah Woods, Tanya Rowe and Jennifer Yeager.

General News on 05/29/2016