Harford County Board of Education Aug. 18 Agenda: Decision on Havre de Grace Middle/High Replacement School Schematic Design

The Harford County Board of Education plans an August 18th business meeting to include a decision on the proposed schematic design for the $87 million Havre de Grace Middle/High School replacement facility. Also on the Monday agenda are proposed revisions to the policy on drug detecting dogs, and recognitions for award winning personnel.

First on the agenda, the Board plans to congratulate Barbara Gostomski and Ginny Vogt of Bel Air Middle School and Gary Childress of the HCPS Food and Nutrition Office for winning School Nutrition Association awards. The School Nutrition Association is a national, non-profit professional organization dedicated to advancing the quality of school meal programs.

Next on the agenda is a period of public comments. The time limit for public comment is three minutes for an individual speaker and five minutes for a speaker representing a group. At the last board business meeting, Board President Nancy Reynolds added the following warning regarding public comments:

“Topics such as personnel matters, pending appeals, and specific student disciplinary matters may not be discussed. Disparaging remarks, personal attacks and inflammatory remarks about specific schools or personnel are not permitted. Any speakers who engage in these comments will be reminded of the policy and consequently asked to leave the podium.”

Next is the consent agenda, including approval of the monthly report on personnel. No further details were available for this agenda item as of press time. However, school officials said last week that they were still working to fill 31 classroom teacher vacancies for the school year that begins for students on August 25th.

Also on the consent agenda, the Board plans to award contracts as recommended for the following projects:

• For on-call electrical services, awards to the following three companies that were the lowest responsive and responsible bidders based on hourly rates: JES Electrical Services, Action Electrical Contractors, Inc., and Lucasia Power. The contracts are for services as-needed, but expenditures are estimated to exceed $100,000 based on historical spending, according to the published agenda.

• As part of a planned, $2.1 million comprehensive HVAC replacement at Darlington Elementary School, a $154,000 contract award to KIBART, Inc. The contract is for architectural/engineering services necessary to produce construction documents for the project. The award recommendation is based on a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process that resulted in 14 submissions, five of which were short-listed, interviewed and ranked by a HCPS selection committee. KIBART, Inc. has successfully performed work in other HCPS facilities, according to the published agenda.

• For a planned $4 million HVAC replacement at Dublin Elementary School, a $316,345 contract award for architectural/engineering design services to Burdette, Koehler, Murphy & Associates, Inc. Similar to the above project, this project RFQ generated 14 submissions, five of which were shortlisted, interviewed and ranked by a HCPS selection committee. Burdette, Koehler, Murphy & Associates has successfully performed work in HCPS and a number of other Maryland school systems, according to the published agenda.

• For the Youth’s Benefit Elementary School replacement facility, Dixie Construction Co, Inc. is recommended for a $10,583,140 contract award for the site work; Finishes, Inc. is recommended for a $2,528,011 contract award for drywall/acoustical work. According to the published agenda, these recommendations are the result of rebidding of this work, which saved the school system a total of $249,034. The recommended contracts conclude the bid phase of the overall project and bring the total construction contract awards to $37,070,412, according to the published agenda.

Last on the consent agenda, the Board plans to appoint Mr. Richard Calvert, a finance professional, to its Audit Committee. The Committee provides financial oversight for the Board. Mr. Calvert replaces Joseph Lambdin whose three-year term expired in June.

Next on the agenda is a vote on revisions to the board policy on the use of drug detecting dogs in secondary schools. The revisions presented at a previous meeting and made available for public comment broadly authorize the use of drug detection dogs and eliminate language deemed procedural in nature, shifting related procedural decisions to the superintendent. Superintendent Barbara Canavan has proposed new procedures designed to minimize embarrassment to students and reduce the duration of drug dog scans, according to the published agenda.

Under presentations, the Board will review its proposed capital budget request for the fiscal year 2016. The Board will vote on the funding request in September for subsequent submission to state and local funding authorities. The request that currently totals $95.1 million includes $17.3 million in state and local funding for the Youth’s Benefit Elementary School replacement facility, and $35 million in state and local funding to begin construction of the Havre de Grace Middle/High School replacement facility. (Please see related agenda item below.) Also on the list is a request for $17.5 million in local funding for technology, which includes costs related to the implementation of online testing required by the state’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards. The complete budget request as currently proposed appears as a link in the agenda published below.

Under new business, the Board plans to vote on the proposed schematic design for the Havre de Grace Middle/High School project. The design was first unveiled last week in a community presentation that can be viewed here: http://www.daggerpress.com/2014/08/14/new-havre-de-grace-middlehigh-school-schematic-design-unveiled/

Last on the agenda is report by Superintendent Canavan.

The August 18th board business meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the A.A. Roberty Building in Bel Air. The published agenda appears below. Please note that published agendas are subject to change.

Agenda
Monday, August 18, 2014
Board Business Meeting – 6:30 PM – Board Room
*Times are approximate

6:30 PM
Call to Order – Mrs. Nancy Reynolds, Board President
Quorum Roll Call
Adoption of Agenda
Pledge of Allegiance

6:35 PM Recognition: School Nutrition Association Awards (Goal 2)
6:50 PM Board Committee Reports and Comments
7:00 PM Public Comment

Old Business
Action Item(s):
7:15 PM A. Consent Agenda:

1) Affirmation of Monthly Contract Awards (Goals 1,2 & 4)

2) Monthly Personnel Report (Goal 3)

3) Minutes of Previous Board Meeting: July 21, 2014 (Goals 1 – 4)

4) Contract Award: On-Call Electrical Services (Goal 4)

5) Contract Award: Architectural/Engineering Services Darlington Elementary School Comprehensive HVAC Systemic Replacement Project (Goal 4)

6) Contract Award: Architectural/Engineering Services Dublin Elementary School Comprehensive HVAC Systemic Replacement Project (Goal 4)

7) Contract Award: Youth’s Benefit Elementary School Building Bid Packages 2A and 9A (Goal 4)

8) Recommendation of Audit Committee Candidate (Goal 4)

7:20 PM B. Decision on HCPS Board Policy, Patrick P. Spicer, Esq.

– Policy No. 08-006-000 Use of Drug Detecting Dogs in Secondary Schools (Goals 1 – 4)

Presentation(s):

7:35 PM C. Presentation of FY 2016 Capital Improvement Program, Mr. Cornell Brown, Mr. Chris Morton, Ms. Patti Jo Beard (Goal 4)
New Business
Action Item(s):

7:55 PM D. Decision on Havre de Grace Middle/High Replacement School Schematic Design Ms. Karen Burlingame and David Strang -Grimm & Parker Architects, Mr. Cornell Brown, Mr. Chris Morton, Ms. Ariana Langford (Goal 4)

Presentation(s):

8:15 PM E. Superintendent’s Report
Closing
8:25 PM Future Meetings Review
Adjournment