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Board awards heating system contract

3 min read

MAPLETOWN – Southeastern Greene School Board awarded a contract Monday to replace the heating and air conditioning system at Bobtown Elementary School.

The board awarded the contract to Hranec Sheet Metal Inc. of Uniontown, which submitted a low bid of $1,245,000. One other bid was received for the project and it was for about $1.5 million.

Preliminary work on the project will begin as soon as the winter heating season is over and be conducted throughout the summer. The project must be completed by Aug. 15.

The board earlier hired Miller Engineering to design the engineering plans for the work, oversee the bidding process and serve as construction administrator on the project.

The boilers in the elementary school are now 40 to 45 years old and considered “dinosaurs,” Craig Miller of Miller Engineering told the board earlier.

The existing system also has few controls, which meanssome rooms get so hot during the winter months teachers have to open the windows while others remain cold, he said.

The company proposed changing the heating system from hot water to forced air and adding new controls that would allow thermostats for each room.

The new system will not only make the school more comfortable to students and staff but also reduce the district’s heating bills, Miller said Monday.

Part of the original plan was also to replace existing lighting with new LED lights. That work was included as an alternate bid and was not approved as part of the contract awarded Monday.

Business manager Pat Sweeney talked about possibly replacing the lighting in-house with district maintenance employees.

In other business, the board approved the purchase of the Go Math series of textbooks for grades kindergarten through sixth grade at a cost of $60,029.79.

The contract covers a six-year period. Scott Sinn, district curriculum director, said he researched the textbooks extensively and recommended the purchase.

The board also voted to purchase 60 laptops and equipment through the state bidding list at a cost of $38,000. Half of the laptops will be used to furnish the newly-renovated computer room at Bobtown Elementary. The remainder will replace older laptops throughout the district.

Bart Donley, junior-senior high principal, said he is working on the course catalogue for next school year. Next year, the district will begin offering advanced placement courses in literature, calculus and American history. The district does not offer AP courses.

The board received an audit report for the year ending June 30, 2014, from Charles Rupert of the firm Cypher and Cypher indicating the district is in good financial shape.

The district ended the year with a $1,710,000 unassigned fund balance savings. Speaking of the fund balance, Rupert said the district is “positioned in a pretty good spot.”

The assessment also took into account that during the year the district transferred $750,000 into its capital fund, which on June 30 held $1,799,000.

Government accounting standards implemented several years ago asked districts to set aside money to pay for retiree health insurance benefits. Many districts don’t set aside money to fund these long-term obligations but simply pay the costs of the benefits on a year-to-year basis.

Of the 23 school districts Cypher and Cypher audit, only five set aside money for the benefits, Rupert said. Southeastern Greene is one of the five district and now has about $1.2 million set aside for the benefits.

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