Davenport low bidder on school media centers

Davenport Brothers Construction of Belleville was the low bidder for general contracting services for this summer’s media center renovation project at Owen and McBride schools.
At Monday’s regular meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education Davenport was selected to do the work that will begin on the day school lets out for the summer and be completed by the end of August.
Davenport’s bid was $596,715.54, lowest of six competitive bids. Abatement remediation went to Sloan Environmental Services of Taylor, lower of two bids, for $64,000. The project has a contingency fund of $40,000, making the total from the Sinking Fund almost exactly at the estimated $700,716.
“Initially, we budgeted for a facelift, but as we got closer to beginning, we decided we needed to do more,” said the memo to the board from Director of Plant Operations James Williams and Senior Consultant for Plante Moran Cresa Rob Kakoczki.
“We decided to change the plan and began an extensive design process visiting surrounding school districts that have also done recent renovations. The committee agreed that they wanted a 21st learning center environment with more flexible spaces, not a traditional one which is what both schools have now.”
The two school principals spoke in support of the project, with McBride Principal John Leroy saying this will be flexible space for the next 10-15 years and calling it “a really cool space – more than just a space to check-out books.”
Owen Principal Melissa Lloyd said the staff and students were really involved in the design process and it will be “a space to realize all our needs.”
“More thinking outside the box,” said School Supt. Pete Kudlak.
The architect showed how the media coach will be in the center of the space and there will be bright colors, new kinds of furniture, with special floors, walls, and higher ceiling – “spaces for different kinds of learning.”
He said the current media centers are in buildings from the 1950s and ‘60s. He said the Owen media center will almost double in size because they will be able to add on the unused work area for teachers that used to be used for mimeographing.
Principal Leroy said some of the seats will be higher bar stools where students like to perch to study, which he called “the Starbucks effect.”
The bookshelves will be largely mobile and there will be booth space at both schools where students can share technologies. They noted this will make a lot of work for Davenport in the summer.
In other business at Monday’s one-hour-and-45-minute meeting, the board:
• Heard pre-planning for the proposed new bond to be decided by voters Nov. 6. Supt. Kudlak explained that with the just-accomplished refinancing of the bonds to build the high school, if voters will agree to keep paying the same taxes that they did for that bond, instead of paying a reduced tax, they can get another bond to build a child education center. Plante Moran Cresa gave a presentation showing how it can help with this project;
• Approved Kudlak’s designation of James Williams as a liaison to the Office of School Safety and the School Safety Commission, an appointment now required by state law. Also, approved was the designation of each principal and himself to receive information, around the clock, about possible student emergencies from the Attorney General’s hotline (OK2SAY). Also, when doing any construction, Kudlak appointed the Van Buren Police Department as the group that will give advice on safety measures;
• Approved the appointment of Sara Cortese as Director of Finance, starting March 18, with board vice president Susan Featheringill abstaining from the vote because Cortese is her daughter and, “I have a conflict of interest,” she said. Cortese has been working in the administration building for four years and was one of the in-house candidates for the position, vacated recently by Shareen Barker. Kudlak said there were eight candidates in the central office group for the first round and three for the second round. He said he brought in his friend who is a finance director in another district to help with the second round and Cortese is the top candidate. She had been filling in as director since Barker left. Cortese said she has been attending a business manager academy through Michigan State University and the most recent topic was negotiations;
• Heard Human Resources Director Abdul Madyun discuss the tentative union contract with the Van Buren Education Association, which covers teachers. There are more than 300 teachers in the district. He emphasized the union has yet to vote on the contract, which runs through Dec. 31, 2019. First, he explained the plan to have the district become self-insured, which will save the district and the teachers money. This also will allow the raises in pay provided in the contract, he said. The contract puts $600 more on each salary schedule starting on the Sept. 10 payday. All members shall move up one advancement level at the time and if the State Foundation allowance increases by $100 or more per student from the 2018-19 school year, $100 will be added to each level on the salary scale. The same if it goes up $200 or $300 per student. Employment incentives are allowed for teachers in critical shortage areas. The insurance program will change, but coverage will remain the same, except additional coverage will increase the chiropractic visits from 20 to 39 and include massage therapy. Those getting health insurance elsewhere will get $2,000 a year ($166.66 per month) in lieu of health insurance, up from $1,500. Also, a Health Care Oversight Advisory Committee will be formed, tasked with oversight of the insurance funding, costs, stop loss and coverage offerings. Also, teachers with class sizes above the maximum will be allowed to apply for Overage Compensation. There are also sections on sick leave, personal days and business days. McBride’s FIRST Robotics Coach will get a 3% increase. Starting in the year 2020, VBEA agrees to 1,112 hours of instructional time per year, according to the contract, which is yet to be ratified. Kudlak said the tentative agreement is scheduled to be voted on by the union this week. Madjun said the raises in salaries are to make the district more competitive, since there is a shortage of teachers;
• Heard Kudlak say the next board meeting at 7 p.m., April 15, will be in the BHS Auditorium and will include his “State of the District” address, as a presentation requested by board president Keith Johnston;
• Learned BHS teacher Deb Kummer was honored by MSU with a Women in Engineering award, one of six such awards statewide; and
• Heard Kudlak explain the original last day of school was to be June 14 and it now will be June 18. He said Good Friday is still a day off. The last two days of school will be exams. He said the district had 12 days off, 11 due to the weather and one due to no power. They are allowed six days by the state and they got three excused and so have to make up three. There are some bills in Lansing that could have excused all three, but the bills have been bogged down, so they are planning to make up the three days. He said on those last two days they would need 60% of the students in school or they will have to give back some money to the state.
Trustee Amy Pearce was absent from the meeting because she was in Florida, but she sent a letter that Johnston read at the meeting.