Upshur BOE awards bid for Hodgesville improvements
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The Inter-Mountain photo by Amanda Hayes
From left are superintendent Dr. Sara Stankus, assistant superintendent Dr. Debra Harrison, new Buckhannon Academy Elementary assistant principal Eric Brand and board member Dr. Greenbrier Almond.
BUCKHANNON -- The Upshur County Board of Education awarded the low bidder, Huffman Corporation, the Hodgesville Elementary project at Tuesday's meeting.
In December, Upshur County Schools received a needs grant of $2,208,389 from the School Building Authority to construct a new pre-K addition, safe schools entry, security system, new sprinkler system, intercom system and HVAC improvements.
The board, on motion by Alan Suder and seconded by Kristi Wilkerson, approved Huffman Corporation out of Bridgeport at $1, 555,000
Director of finance George Carver said the motion would be subject to approval by the School Building Authority but by having the vote that would allow for a pre-construction meeting Monday.
Carver also pointed out that Huffman Corporation said they could complete the job in 180 days.
"By comparison, if you see some of the other companies - they wanted as much as 210 or 270 days," Carver said. "If we start July 1, that means presumably, it would be done by Jan. 1 and would hopefully minimize the disruption to the school."
Built in 1967, Hodgesville Elementary previously had an addition built in 1988. In 2015, the school received SBA funding to upgrade the electrical system.
The other companies and their base bids were were Danhill Construction ($1.7 million), High Point construction ($1.6 million), Wolf Creek Contracting ($2.2 million) and Flint Construction Co. ($1.57 million).
The board of education also decided to continue the employee incentive as is from its 2018 revision. Full or half-time employees who use three or less personal leave days each year or who accumulate a balance of personal leave days in relationship to their years of service are eligible for an incentive ($400 for full-time employees and $200 for half-time employees).
Carver said they haven't determined the amount to be awarded this school year.
"I do hope and believe it is having an impact on people's attitudes about being absent from work," he said. "We will be running those checks soon."
Board member Dr. Greenbrier Almond moved, seconded by Wilkerson to continue with the same format.
Curriculum director Tim Derico reported that the maintenance department was beginning to work on the metal building by the board of education office in anticipation of the City of Buckhannon removing the building.
In other business, the board of education:
• heard a presentation on OpenGov.com transparency website from state auditor John B. McCuskey.
"This is the number one transparency website in America," McCuskey said. "We are actually first in something that is good which we are really proud of. We think it is a really cool tool for people to use to make decisions better but also to communicate with their constituents."
• after a 30-minute executive session for personnel, Almond moved to accept personnel, seconded by Wilkerson.
• prior to the board meeting, members visited Upshur County Youth Camp for Younger 4-H Camp's VIP Dinner.
• announced that the June 25 regular board of education meeting has been canceled.
• following an executive session, voted to expel six students for one school year for the violation of Upshur County Schools 4011 and West Virginia Policy4373 Expected Behaviors in Safe and Supportive Schools.