School Board approves McBride HVAC project at cost of $346,000

At the July 12 regular meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education an exception was made to the usual procedure of presenting information on a project at one meeting and then approving it at the next meeting.
On Monday the $346,000 McBride Middle School HVAC project was presented and approved at the same meeting. There were two reasons. First, Rob Kakoczki of Plante Moran said lead time for projects has been extending because of the wait time for necessary items. He said he would like to order as soon as possible.
He said he expects to be able to work on the project in September and October on off hours and weekend work, so as not to interfere with the school sessions. This way they can get the work done before winter sets in.
The project team selected low bidder of three, Professional Thermal Systems, Inc. at $291,000 for the base bid scope of work including mechanical, demolition, architectural, steel and roofing work. A second needed condensing unit was added to the project at a cost of $40,000, along with a project contingency amount of $15,000, making the total award recommendation of $346,000.
The second reason for approving the project at once was that the board was considering not holding the July 26 meeting, which would put off the ordering for the project into August, further delaying the work.
Later in the meeting, the board did informally agree to not hold the July 26 meeting due to lack of agenda.
In other business at the July 12, 55-minute meeting, the board:
• Approved a three-year agreement with the Van Buren Educational Support Team (VBEST). Human Resources Director Abdul Madyun said there is a completely new pay schedule. He explained the former pay raises went by year, from years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 and then there wasn’t another raise until year 17. School Supt. Pete Kudlak said this is a much cleaner contract than they had before. Director Madyun also pointed out there are options for insurance and the district can even offer free insurance, but it has a high deductible. Board president Amy Pearce said they hope to attract bus drivers with the new rates. She said a retired person without insurance could take advantage of this;
• Heard results of a parent survey from Supt. Kudlak. He said during the last week of school he put out a quick survey with six simple questions and a couple of questions requiring comments. He said he sent the comments he received to board members but did not furnish them to the audience. Kudlak said 721 parents responded, representing 1,112 students, with 43.8% remote students, 42.6% in-person students, and 13.6% both. The answers were mostly positive, with great concern shown in the comments on whether or not masks will be required to be worn in school in the fall. Kudlak said he will be sending a survey on masks to parents before any decisions are made for fall; and
• Approved hiring Matthew Wilson as a districtwide Instructional Tech Coach for the 2021-22 school year. He comes to the district from his job as fifth grade teacher at Central Academy, Global Educational Excellence, in Ann Arbor, and before that teaching fifth grade in Phoenix, AZ. He currently is obtaining Google Educator Level 1 certification.