001Meeting of the Board of Education is now called to order. Please stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all for joining us this evening. We'll get started by approving our agenda. Are there any changes to the agenda as provided? Uh hearing none, is there a motion, please, to approve the agenda? Mr. President, I move that the Board of [clears throat] Education approve the agenda as presented. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. All those in favor, please say I. I. Opposed? Uh we'll move forward with the agenda as presented and go where we always go first, the Superintendent's
002report. Danny? Thank you, President Van Antwerp, members of the Board of Education. Uh tonight is one of those feel-good meetings that I really like uh annually. Uh so, Dr. Ann Gordon is going to lead us in our Parent Advisory Committee awards. Let's welcome Dr. Gordon. And um >> [clears throat] >> And I want to say that I'm not certain if Katie, this is your first time in front of the board or not. Yes, I think so. Katie Webster uh is in Ann's former position uh as a coordinator. So, uh Katie Webster is another team member of the ESI department. Yes, thank you. Good evening, trustees and Superintendent Edwards. I'm Ann Gordon, the director of educational support and intervention. And as Mr. Edwards said, this is Katie Webster, supervisor of educational support and intervention. And we
003have the honor tonight of presenting the Parent Advisory Committee Excellence in Special Education Awards. The Parent Advisory Committee has representatives from every district in the county. Um, they solicit nominations for awards, families write letters to them, and they read through all those letters, and they choose award winners for each um district. And so tonight we have three winners this year. Um, we have Lisa Morris, who's a teacher in our early childhood ed special education program, Mary Kay Alby, paraprofessional at Central Elementary, and Riley Kristen, who's a teacher at North Middle School. I'd like to call each winner up and read a couple excerpts from the letters written to nominate. So, [clears throat] Lisa, could you please come up? Look at these beautiful awards they get. >> [applause] >> Uh, so this is from the letter
004that was written um about you from one of your parents. Through her consistent communication, she builds trust and nourishes a great sense of team between parents, child, outside therapists, and educational team. She remained open-minded, she would share her expertise when asked, and consistently showed compassion and empathy to all situations. She built her team members' confidence and always encouraged them to trust their gut. Through her many years of experience, she has provided us hope and encouragement. Their child grew so much under her loving care, and we honestly believe so much of his success is due to Lisa's support and knowledge. She is truly one of a kind and deserves her recognition. Thank you. >> [applause] >> OKAY, NEXT IS MARY KAY ALBY. Um Okay. >> [applause] >> THIS FAMILY WROTE THAT UM MS. ALBY makes an
005effort to know their specific interests, which change often, but she always keeps up. Mary Kay does positive affirmations with my girls, letting them know that they are smart, brave, and worthy. Mary Kay has been a consistent presence, and we are so lucky to have her in our lives. Any child, any person really, would be so blessed to have her in their corner. >> [applause] >> Okay, and next we have Riley Kristen, who's one of our resource room teacher at NORTH HILLS SCHOOL. >> [applause] >> OKAY, THIS FAMILY WROTE THAT MS. KRISTEN is excellent in keeping us informed in what our child is doing throughout school. Within the first few weeks of school, their child was walking to classes and walking the three-story middle school by himself. Ms. Kristen gave him the confidence to do that.
006I mentioned that he would like to try school lunch, but he would need help figuring out the many middle school lines. She jumped She jumped on it. She wants him to have as many typical middle school experiences as possible. She kept me abreast on how it was going, and we worked out the kinks. Not junk food every day, um but now he's got it. Ms. Kristen is the reason their child's middle school experience has been so simple and so wonderful. We did not expect middle school to be this smooth and this easy, and Ms. Kristen has made their child a part of the sixth grade class and has helped him work to the absolute best of his ability. >> [applause] >> Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. All right, thank you, Dr. Gordon. Up
007next is our bond project update. Gerbers. >> Good evening board superintendent Edwards. Give you kind of a update. It's been a month since I last was up here giving you guys an update on how the construction at Woodland is going as well as some other project activities taking place in the district. Uh lot of lot has happened over the month. You can definitely tell that the warmer weather has brought upon us better building conditions for the workers out there and it really shows. If you see the first view here, you can see the actual uh structure of the building is complete. The block structure is all done. Uh so that's the structural component of the building is all done. They are now working on putting roof roofing on some areas and beams in other areas
008and but the structure of the the block structure is completely done, which is a big milestone to have that off the plate. Now the the masons are working on the veneer, which you'll see here in a second. There's some framing taking place as well throughout the building. What you're seeing here is the uh media center framing as well as the art room right next door to that. And then the big opening there, that's going to be the main entry to the building. Uh but the the guys are out there the framers are out there doing the interior framing of the building, which is nice. You'll start seeing all the classroom being framed out in the next couple weeks. So that's exciting to see. Here's a shot of the outside. This is uh two walls of
009the building that are done. It's in the back, so it's really unless you have a house in the back portion there, you really don't see it. Uh but it's a really nice uh veneer brick going up on the building. It really pops. It's it's it's going to be a very nice looking building when it's done. But they got these two sections of walls done and they're working their way around. It's kind of funny they're starting in the back, so they're going to By the time they get to the front, it'll be closer to the end of summer. But it really looks nice, but people aren't going to see it right away cuz it's tucked in the back there. Another big milestone if you're working on the site, they are no no longer using ladders to
010get up to the second floor. So, stairs are in the building, which is everyone appreciates the stairs versus having to climb up the ladder. So, that was a big milestone that the stairs are in. And if you look, uh they got the poured floors. These are the finished floors. Obviously, they'll be carpeting or some other material over top of them, but the floors are in a lot of the building, not all the building, but in the learning studios and things like that, they're starting to pour the floors in. So, that's good to see. Uh here's just a view from the ups- upstairs. You can see the back. This is kind of a like courtyard between between between the two learning studios there. And then the slanted roof will be the uh heart area of the
011building. But this is just an exterior view. You can kind of see what's taking place. The yellow stuff that's sprayed on the building, that's uh insulation. Foam insulation, and then the brick veneer goes on the other side of that. Another thing you'll see is they're starting to put air handlers in. So, it's open to the elements still. That's why they're all wrapped up and they're they're safe. Uh but they're starting to drop air handlers and starting to do some of the HVAC work already. So, that's good to see as well. Uh more plumbing's going in. This is one of the the gang bathroom in the the building. Uh the plumbing for that. The gym has a roof. And that's the they have a dry space now to store things. Uh so, it's really good when
012the roof comes in because now if it starts to rain, since it's a short little rainstorm like we had today, the workers actually just go into the gym, wait it out, and then go back to work if they want. Before it would rain, they'd go to their truck and sometimes just go home. So, let's see. It's kind of good to see that the roofs they uh roofs finally got a dry space to store stuff, dry space to go to stay out of the rain. Starts to rain, then when it's done, they can get back at it. And then this is just another angle of the building from the uh what's what side is that? The side over there. You see the gym there, and then there's the kitchen area, and as well as the way
013back the wall that is completed on the learning studio, the exterior wall of the veneer there. I just like the picture because it was early morning, good sunrise coming over the building, so it looked really sharp. So, that's the Woodland update. Also, I want to remind you we do have our groundbreaking coming up on June 3rd for Amberley. Very excited about that. So you guys know the due care plan was submitted to the city, they agreed with it with no changes whatsoever, so that's a good milestone. Continue working on our water erosion soil erosion permit gets approved, you'll start seeing a lot of dirt being moved and we'll start getting that building going. So, we're expecting to get that in the next week or two. >> [clears throat] >> Any questions about board report? Seems
014like things are moving along a lot more quickly than they have before. I don't know, maybe it's because we know what to expect generally in terms of what spaces are supposed to look like, so it's meaningful when we see this, but it seems like it's really It's also the third building and some get to you know, both the OAK and Amberley they [clears throat] got the things aligned. They also the design, they know things that they might have issues on with Central and Haverhill, they iron those out so they don't have those pauses like oh, what are we doing here with this steel structure? They redesigned it for Woodland to make sure it didn't have any of those quirks and they'd have to delay the construction process. So, they're able to move right along now
015and keep giving me good weather and we'll keep this building going. So, when we get to four and five they'll really be going fast. As fast as you can go. The goal would be to try to keep them in built in the net 24-month time frame if not less, so we can start start construction right before we get out of school in some cases and then finish it before we start school in 24 Good job. Anything else? I had a good rest. Thanks. All right. Lastly, we're going to do our financial report. Our business manager, Sammy Feabans, will present the report. Good evening, Board of Trustees and Superintendent Edwards. Tonight in your board packet is the financial report ending April 30th of 2026 compared to April 30th of 2025. Um that first page for you
016is broken out by object code, very similar to how we present in our board amendment um preliminary budgets. Uh you'll see that the local revenue is up just a little bit compared to last year. Um that is due to higher than expected delinquent taxes. Um and then we are also seeing a little bit higher than expected uh facility rental increases as well. State revenue is down from last year um just a little bit, not a whole lot. A lot of that is due to the two two two categoricals that we lost in 25-26 that we had in 24-25. Um that primarily related to the retirement categoricals. Federal revenue is down from last year. We do have a federal dialogue down that we are getting ready to prep um to make sure that we have our
017money by year end. Um but a lot of that fluctuation is from the SR funding cliff that we've talked a lot about. As for expenses, our basic programs and needs are running pretty status quo compared to previous years, especially last year. The instructional staff area is up a little bit from last year. A lot of that's due to the ASL and MEUI teaming grant that uh the curriculum department has received um along with the addition of the GSRP program expenses. Uh central services is up. That's due to the bond marketing that we um did back last fall. Um and then the community services and child care uh yeah, community services and child care area is down. Um and a lot of that's due to the adoption of the GSRP program that we took on. So
018they just kind of moved areas in the budget. The second page in your board report is your object code. Purchase services are up. We had a very expensive winter, as you may know, it was a hard winter, so we have our mowing costs are a little more expensive than usual. And then we're also seeing an increase in ink back and GRBS costs. Capital outlay in the other section is down. We saw a decrease in the CAMC budget along with the consortium budget for CTE, and that's due to the change in the programming between here and KRESA. Other general updates within the business office, we now have all three budgets from the governor, the house, and the senate. Governor released her budget in February. House and senate released theirs almost a month ago to the date,
019right at the end of April. Governor's proposal includes a weighted funding model, which would be very different for us, along with the senate. They also propose that as well. The house proposal presents more of a normal funding model. The senate also The senate proposal also presents a three-year average for people membership, and that's to help stabilize funding for districts that are experiencing enrollment declines. Each proposal has a $250 per pupil increase, which is 2.5%, bringing that per pupil foundation up to 10,300. Universal school meals are also included in all three proposals. The proposals still focus on our typical our mental health, the school safety 31AA. It is important to mention that the governor The house and the senate gave more of a clearer definition of mass casualty in their 31AA proposal. However, the waiver of
020I can't remember what the word was, but there's a waiver that they mention in there. One leaves it in and one removes it. Um and that's one of the things that we [clears throat] really watched when we discussed that funding. Literacy and early intervention are still a big topic of discussion along with that risk funding. The school transportation that we receive now is still in all three proposals. Uh the Senate does see a small increase in that, but they all stay at the 125 million that we currently are budgeted or funded at. Uh declining enrollment is still in two of the three proposals. The Senate uh repeals that proposal and that's mainly because of that three-year average that they're proposing um in their budget. So, that will be an interesting take to see where the
021three groups go when they start conversing. Uh we're still seeing funding from the school aid fund being shifted towards higher education. The governor's budget shows 1.7 billion going to the higher education, House is 1.3, and Senate is 1.2. And that ranges from a loss of 880 per student to 1,200 per student from the school aid fund. Uh there is mention of possible budget uh possibly by 6:15, maybe by 6:30. We hope every year that we have it by the time that we bring you the preliminary budget at the end of June. Um and this year we're very hopeful that we will have more information than in years past and a lot of that is because those legislatures are wanting to get out and campaign because it is an election year. Uh the consensus revenue estimating
022conference was held on Friday, May 15th in Lansing. Uh revenue forecasts uh were increased from the January revenue estimating conference from by a total of 3. or 307.3 million with the school aid fund receiving 79.4 million of that increase and the general fund had a positive adjustment of 227.9 million. Uh the state is or they are predicting that the pupil membership enrollment for 26-27 uh to be down just over 12,000 kids across the state of Michigan K-12. Um and I think it's also important to note that the general fund at the state is seeing pressure uh due to the gas tax that was put into place in January of 2026. Um there's expected $155 million deficit in the general fund due to that. However, due to the PA 17 that was with the that gas
023tax, the school aid fund could see an additional 140 to 160 million dollars in revenue due to the high gas prices um that the that the general fund will be recovered or pressured to um cover. Tomorrow, May 19th, we sell bonds for our final or our final series in the 2021 bond uh vote. Uh and then we also do 2016 bond refinancing. Um we won't know much until tomorrow to see where interest rates come in when the stock market opens tomorrow morning. Um but there is the potential worth thinking of uh savings of $142,000 on the interest for our 2016 bonds. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Lot of news, Sammy. Thanks. >> It's been a busy month. It seems like there's more alignment than not in the three various budgets. So, election year
024and and it the increase may not be what we wanted, but it's good to have stability and we'll we'll know soon. Correct. It was a shock, honestly, to us when we saw $250 across the board, but in the long run it also makes our budgeting a little bit more of a what do we go with knowing that 250, they're not really expecting it to be any higher, but they could come in lower. So, it it's hard to say when they start talking. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll move to our comments and communications section. Is there are there any citizens who wish to address the board this evening? I see one out there and Amberly Tiger, welcome. Jen Reiner. Thank you. Would you like to start? Yeah, go ahead. Hello board trustees and superintendent
025Edward. I'm Jennifer Reiner. I'm from Amberly Elementary. I'm the PEA rep. I'm here to take a moment to recognize and celebrate several outstanding accomplishments, some positive stories that are happening within Portage Public Schools. My own personal child, my third one's wrapping up his eighth grade year at West Middle School and I cannot say enough positive things about the band program that Mr. Cozen creates for our students at West. All three of my children found a love for performing music through Mr. Cozen and they've all continued on and will continue to participate in high school band as well. Countless students have received an incredible music education from him and the experiences that come along with being part of the middle school band program. I recently returned from the seventh and eighth grade band trip to Mackinac
026Island as a chaperone. The students experienced a two-day jam-packed days filled with music, history, and memorable educational opportunities. Mr. Cozen also provides an extracurricular jazz band opportunity for middle school across our district, not just West. The size of the band jazz band is truly impressive. They could hardly fit on the stage at West Middle School. He continually encourages students to grow musically by participating in solo ensemble performances for ratings and his students also perform at the a living a senior living facility. Um this list of opportunities that he creates for students could go on and on. Portage Public Schools is incredibly fortunate to have Mr. Kozen as a music educator and my family is deeply grateful for him. Next up, Dave Mandrick and Tara Trotter spent 3 days in May taking all the eighth graders
027at North Middle School to Schoolcraft to visit the Nathan Thomas Underground Railroad house. Students were able to learn directly about the Underground Railroad as well as the community connection that Southwest Michigan has to this important piece of history. Thanks for creating this opportunity, Dave and Tara. We would also like to recognize Tara for an extraordinary achievement. She was awarded the James Madison Fellowship for the state of Michigan 2026. This prestigious fellowship grants up to $24,000 to continue her education as she pursues a master degree in American history from Gettysburg College. In the summer of 2027, she will spend 6 weeks studying in Washington, D.C. learning in depth about the United States Constitution at George uh Georgetown University. She was one of only 45 recipients recipients nationwide this year. This is an incredible honor that reflects
028both her dedication to education and her commitment to lifelong learning. Congratulations to Tara. Additionally, Kat Frank, our president of PEA, was awarded a grant from the National Education Association that will allow her to serve as a full-time union president for the next 3 years. While she is sad to leave the classroom, she is excited for this opportunity to better serve our PPS students through public education advocacy and educator support. Congrats to Kat. Finally, we would like to take time to celebrate the extraordinary student involvement here at Portage Central High School. Based on athletic rosters, competitive activity rosters, and attendance of club meetings, data shows that over 75% of students participate in some kind of extracurricular activity here at Portage Central High School. That is truly amazing and speaks volumes about the culture and opportunities available
029to our students. Thank you to the advisors, coaches, teachers, and staff members who make these opportunities possible for our students every day. Their dedication helps create meaningful experiences that positively impact students far beyond the classroom. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Ann. Thank you. Yeah, our next speaker this evening is Stephanie Alkire, please. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Stephanie Alkire. I live on Lyda Lane and I'm a Portage Northern parent. Last fall, I came before the board to advocate for an activities director at Portage Northern. I was told that the funding between Portage Northern and Portage Central was the same and that activities director was not the highest priority at the time. But the student experience tells a different story. Since then, my daughter's been unable to start a HOSA, Future Health
030Professionals Club at Northern. Not because of lack of interest, but because there's not enough teacher advisors to support it. This is one example of the broader gap in student opportunity. I want to acknowledge the Portage Northern principal has done an excellent job over the past two years and has been working to support students like my daughter. Leadership alone cannot close the gap without the right level of system support. And now we're seeing the impact. For years, Portage Northern and Central have had similar school ratings. Recently, that has changed. Portage Northern is now rated six out of 10 in grade schools, while Portage Central is rated nine out of 10. Other nearby schools like Loy Norrix, Galesburg, Schoolcraft, and Vicksburg are all rated higher than Northern. The paperwork you received shows the current school rankings along
031with an example of a higher income neighborhood within Portage Northern boundary where over 50% of the graduates school of choice. At the same time, we are not seeing the same movement in lower income areas. And when you layer that on with how district boundaries are currently drawn, the impact is more pronounced. Today, we have lower income neighborhoods assigned to Portage Northern even when they are geographically closer to Portage Central. At the same time, there are higher income neighborhoods closer to Portage Northern that are assigned to Portage Central. The combination of boundary decisions and school of choice patterns working together can unintentionally create advantages in one school and challenges in the other. But this is not about individual choices. It's about a system we've created and whether it's producing balanced outcomes. Right now, Portage Northern students
032and staff are doing everything they can about that. But they are operating operating at a structural disadvantage. Declining enrollment, which impacts resources and staff flexibility, are an impact. Reduced ability to offer the same breadth of courses and programs is an impact. And enrollment patterns that shape peer environment, perception, and school outcomes over time is an impact. As the ratings decline, perceptions shift, and that perception drives even more families to request a transfer, and that creates a cycle that is becoming increasingly difficult to reverse. So, we have to ask, is this system creating equitable outcomes for both schools? This is not about one school versus the other. It's about equity across our district. So, tonight I'm asking you to develop a clear, concrete plan to address the growing gap between Portage Northern and Portage Central and
033share that plan publicly. The plan should include how are you going to address school of choice impact and then enrollment imbalance. How will you evaluate attendance boundaries and their impact on equity? And how will you ensure that both schools have the resources and academic opportunities needed to succeed? And just as importantly, I'm asking for transparency and accountability through quarterly public updates on the progress because this is not a one-time conversation. It requires sustained focus and measurable action. I believe in this district. I believe in our principal and I believe in both schools, but right now Portage Northern is falling behind and the gap is growing. As a parent, I'm asking you to make sure that where your child lives does not determine the quality of education and opportunity they receive in this district. And I
034want you to look at the screen where it says every student, every future. Are we doing that? Because right now, the scores are saying that we are not. So, please help provide some equity between these schools and give my child a chance. Thank you. Thank you, Stephanie. Do we have a copy of your remarks? I gave her a copy. I'm sorry. I apologize. I printed seven and I didn't realize. I have Oh, no. That's fine. We'll get them. Thank you very much. Okay. Are there any comments from board trustees this evening? I wanted to highlight the uh parent advisory committee awards. Uh congratulations first of all to the winners of that, but there are many people nominated who did not win the award, who are so highly valued by the families that they work with
035that I wanted to give a shout out and a congratulations to those who were nominated but may not have made the final decision of receiving the award here at the meeting. Um you are valued and we appreciate you. Thanks, Kimberly. Anyone else? Okay, I'll I'll jump in first. Um the traditional thanks to my colleagues for the extra couple of hours and and working through important policy materials. Uh want to thank both of our public commenters tonight with appropriate um and thoughtful um messages for us. And then finally, um a heads-up I want to make sure on owner linkage we've got Terry and Mark, I believe. Um and I'm going to call a meeting um so that we can, you know, work through the the next 6-month calendar um and talk about some other issues. I
036mentioned at the retreat um that was introduced to a few different ways to link to our owners. And um So, anyway, want to do some of that brainstorming with you. And you don't have patients in the chair on Friday. So, um it'll probably be on a Friday, hopefully in the next 2 or 3 weeks. Thank you, Sheriff. Mhm. Anyone else? Just want to remind everybody that Northern's graduation is tomorrow night, and it's suggested we get there by 6:30 p.m. We have KCSO on Wednesday night, and uh the PEA teacher retirement dinner on Thursday night this week. And then at your places is uh the program from the Northern High School IB Educator Recognition event that was held last Wednesday. Uh there are 16 seniors at Northern who are going to graduate with an IB diploma,
037and uh as usual, those events are great cuz you really get to see an in-depth look not only at the students, but at their educators as well. So, it was a it was a great event. Uh with that, we'll move to our consent agenda. And we have just a couple items on that tonight. If can get the page open. Okay, the first is the approval of the May 4th, 2026 Committee of the Whole Work Session and Closed Session. And the second is to approve the renewal Chartwells Food Service Management Contract for the 2026-2027 school year and authorize the Director of Finance to execute the contract renewal agreement. Uh this was presented to us last week and are there any exceptions to the consent agenda as presented? Uh hearing none, the consent agenda is approved. Uh
038our first required action item is on page 18 and that's the K-12 2026-2027 General Education Fund budget. Uh it was discussed briefly last week. I think uh you know, quickly looking at it, the budget is is reasonable and the explanation that was provided was very thorough. Um if anyone uh believes we need to discuss this in depth, we can certainly do that, but if not, I'd be happy to accept a motion, please, on page 18. Mr. President, I move that the Board of Education adopt the resolution provided indicating support of the K-12 General Education Fund budget for the 2026-2027 school year. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. Thank you. All those Oh, discussion. Any discussion, you know? Okay, all those in favor of approving the K-12 2026-2027 General Education Fund budget, please say
039I. I. I. Uh the budget passes. Uh our next item is a discussion item. It's our annual MASB uh membership renewal. Yeah, as as you all know, the MASB provides advocacy and legislation. They're our lobbyists. Um this year they um were involved with the cell phone legislation to protect the school aid fund and they were involved in the 31A school safety and issue. And of all the things MASB gets rated on by the folks they service, they rate highest on legislative advocacy. So, that's good cuz they're our lobbyist. You know, they provide support for boards and if you're a member of MASB, of course, you're allowed to participate in SetSeg. And SetSeg has come to our rescue a couple of times in the last year. And you know, they're involved in board member education. And
0402/3 of the members of MASB would highly recommend MASB. They have a 9 out of 10 rating on likely to recommend. So, our fee this year is 10,000 something and that includes 10,743 and that includes the the legal trust fund at $437. So, is there any discussion about the MASB membership renewal for 2026-27? Randy, and on top of all that, they have Brad Banasik who is an attorney who we can call for free with kind of the more straightforward legal questions instead of having to call the council with the leader line. Yeah, we probably get more than $10,000 of legal advice from Brad every year. So, Correct. Correct. In my opinion, I think we ought to approve it tonight unless somebody has do it then. That would require somebody to create a motion. On page
04126, I think it's possible. We need to bring it to action, please. Yes, Mr. President, I recommend that the Board of Education move to action the membership renewal to the Michigan Association of School Boards for the 2026-27 school year. Thank you, Terry. Is there a second? Okay, all those in favor bring this item to action, please say I. I. Now we need the motion to approve. And then I recommend that the Board of Education approve the membership renewal to the Michigan Association of School Boards for the 2026-2027 school year in the amount of $10,743.24. Thank you, Terry. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Any discussion? Very good. All those in favor of approving the MASB membership renewal for 2026-2027, please say I. I. Opposed? The motion passes. And we can now move to our
042discussion item. I believe it's the last item on our agenda. The stairwell renovation. Good evening, good board. This is Ferdinando Edwards. Um I'd like to recommend that the board approve the ability for us to go through Central High School's uh stairwells. Uh we noticed that the building opened in 2020 uh 2011 and all the stair Some of the stairwells have giant windows in them and we noticed the UV light is uh deteriorated the treads and the carpet in those stairwells to the point where we're going to have to start either fixing them or replacing the carpet and after looking at fixing them, it was determined that replacing them with a better product uh the same stuff we used at Central Middle School, Central Elementary, and Haverhill would be the best course of action in this
043case. Uh so working with OAK, we put it out to bid uh for just uh tearing off the old stuff, putting in the new carpet, and Ritzema Associates won the contract for $174,740 if approved by the board. Um we're asking for an allowance of $249,280 to cover any fees, contingency as they rip it off, anything that has to be fixed because of it, and then as well as it Once we have it all taken out, we want to paint it so it looks nice with the carpet and the bare threads. So, the the 249 should more than cover it. Um, but it's one of those things that we have to address it either one way or another. And we feel that putting in a more superior product is a best long-term solution. We're also going
044to be working with Tower Paint City to figure out if there's a glazing we can use on the windows that would help protect it from the UV damage. Um, and see if that's cost-effective to do, but that's still in the works. We're just kind of focusing on making sure we get the carpet purchased purchased and installed over the summer here. So, I'm asking that we move the connection item as possible tonight. Keep the schedule cuz you got to order the carpet and then that would get in in early July a month and a half about to get it installed for the start of the school year. Is there any questions that I can answer on this one? So, you're saying our information says 174740, but you're asking for 249. Yeah, so the help me to
045install the carpet. That was what we went out to bid for for $174,740. Uh, with that you're going to have fees for OAK to manage the project. You're also going to have um contingency fee. Uh, so you have uh case something comes up during construction. Let's say they take it when you're taking it off, there's you know, there's a hole in the concrete or something like that. They have to repair it. Um, so it has a contingency fee C fee. Uh, you have those and then we have an allowance in there for uh to bring in a painter to paint the areas the the rails the arm rails and those things. So, it is a nice overall product for the building. So, so just to note, the recommended motion does not have the 249 in
046it. So, we're going to have to read from the opening paragraph. Keep it from moving. Up up the mouth. Yeah. Right. All right. Got it. Yeah. This is safety concern, so does anyone have any issue with bringing this to action tonight? Okay, we need a a motion, please, to bring this item to action. Uh Mr. President, I move that the Board of Education move the CHS stairwell renovation discussion item to action. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. Thank you. All those in favor of moving this item to action, please say I. >> I. I. Opposed? The motion passes, and now we need that action to approve. Mr. President, I move that the Board of Education approve as presented awarding the contract to Ritzma Associates of Grandville, Michigan, in the amount of $249,280 for
047stairwell carpet renovations at Central High School, the funding of which will come from the 2019 buildings and site sinking fund. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor of approving this this Central High School stairwell renovation, please say I. I. Opposed? The motion passes. Can I ask for a clarification? So, the contract to Ritzma would be for $174,740 with a not to exceed for this project to be $249,280. >> Okay, may I rephrase that, then? Yeah, you can just use the recommendation that's in the memo. Okay. That captures it, doesn't it? >> Mhm. Should I rephrase it just to be >> No, we're fine. We're fine. All right, that uh we've reached the end of our agenda. I'm looking for uh our meeting evaluation forms, and with that, we are adjourned. Thank
048you. She said it's going to be at IB meeting at Central. Yeah.