Small step taken towards district-wide projects

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

USD 234 is moving closer toward actual construction on projects in the $40.8 million school bond package that voters approved in November.

The board took another step in the process during its Monday meeting. Board members approved the recommendation of a steering committee to select Nabholz Construction Services of Olathe, a commercial construction contractor, as the construction manager at-risk for the proposed school bond projects.

The projects will include improvements to all district buildings and the district stadium.

USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham said the committee, which consisted of district administrators, members of the architectural team, the district maintenance supervisor, school building principals and three school board members, met with and interviewed four companies to find a construction manager for the projects.

"It was a good experience working with (those teams)," he said.

Beckham said the committee spent one hour with each firm and in order to make a decision, used a scoring rubric that included nine categories.

"It was a tough decision, but I recommend hiring Nabholz as our construction manager moving forward," Beckham said prior to the board vote. "We will start that process tomorrow (Tuesday)."

Board member Justin Meeks said he was "all for" the committee's recommendation and made the motion to approve Nabholz. The motion was seconded and all board members approved.

Board president Jordan Witt thanked those who served on the committee, which included board members Gary Billionis, Jamie Armstrong and Janet Braun.

Beckham said school administrators will now work on a weekly basis with Hollis and Miller Architects of Overland Park, the district's architectural and engineering team, as well as stakeholders in the projects, to start bringing the projects to fruition.

"As projects begin to unfold, we'll pull other people into the process, such as building principals (and other staff)," he said. "The architects were in the district today (Monday). Our goal now is to deliver at or below what we promised."

Armstrong and Braun said they enjoyed serving on the committee and meeting with the interested companies.

"I enjoyed interviewing the four companies," Armstrong said.

"I also enjoyed being part of the interview group," Braun said. "I learned a lot that day."

During the board comments portion of the meeting, Witt congratulated Nabholz on being chosen as the construction manager and addressed Jeff Bennett, a Nabholz representative who was in the audience Monday night.

"This town deserves the best," Witt said. "I look forward to you delivering that."

USD 234 Business Manager Susan Brown said the construction manager at-risk option was chosen as the best construction delivery method available to the district.

"The group comes in and navigates the construction process for us," she said. "They will help us go out and seek bids with subcontractors to get the best bid. It will also break up the project into pieces rather than one big project. And get a better price."

Brown said the board only approved the selection of the construction manager at-risk, but have not yet approved a contract with the company. She said that would likely take place at a future board meeting.

Brown said next steps include a design phase and seeking bids for subcontractors. The design phase will allow school officials to see in detail what the projects are going to look like.

"We've already had some input from teachers and what they would like to see in the projects," she said. "It will start visually coming together."

Projects will likely start this summer at Fort Scott High School, which school officials have said has the most pressing structural needs.

"There's a June plan to demo the Juco wing at the high school," Brown said. "And probably start replacing heating and air systems throughout the high school."

Teacher negotiations

Brown said on Feb. 1, the school board and teachers will exchange letters with items up for discussion during upcoming teacher negotiations.

Brenda Hill, representative of the Fort Scott chapter of the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA), said the teachers' team is "getting some dates set" for future discussions with Beckham and the school board.

"We'll be working to solve issues before they become problems," Beckham said.

The board approved the proposed 1,116-hour school calendar, which Beckham said will be used throughout the negotiation process.

"We'll take it to the negotiations table with teachers," he said.

Budget update

Brown gave board members a brief update on the district budget. She said the budget looks good to date with the exception of some slight decreases in revenues.

"Our revenues are down a bit," Brown said, adding this was due to recent state legislation. "It took our county distribution and rather than going directly to us, it goes to the state and then comes back to us, so there's a little bit of delay in our payments."

Employment matters

The board approved a leave of absence request from Janice Schlichting, preschool teacher, and approved employment of Rebecca Johnson as school nurse and building wellness coordinator at Eugene Ware Elementary School for the remainder of the 2014-15 school year.

Other business

* Fort Scott Middle School Principal Jim Howard gave a presentation on a proposed academic program at the middle school.

* No action was taken following a 45-minute executive session to discuss personnel matters for non-elected personnel and to discuss matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative or representatives of the body or agency.