After voting 4-1 in approval of the architect agreement for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) projects at Thursday’s regular meeting, the Greenville Public School District Board of Trustees anticipates significant traction being made with regard to campus improvements.
Board trustee Drew Newsom casted the dissenting vote.
During their June regular meeting, the consensus among the board was that time is of the essence and a finalized agreement was imminent with regard to meaningful utilization of its ESSER funds to complete various building improvement projects.
The improvements needed span the entire district and include roof replacements, HVAC and boiler system replacements, asbestos abatement and outdoor and playground revitalization among other projects.
Project manager Greg Durrell, owner of the Jackson-based architecture firm Durrell Design Group, briefed the board on what will be forthcoming based on the finalized agreement.
In addition, he introduced Kimberly Buford, AIA, of JBHM Architects of Jackson — one of the two firms the board was considering to render the architectural services for the projects.
The proposed projects are slated to be completed over the course of three years using funds from ESSER I, II, and III.
The 36-month project plan includes the actual construction as well as “built-in” warranty times.
The total ESSER construction budget is about $31 million.
GPSD’s project management fee is $623,000; the design team fee — 6% of the construction fee — is roughly $1.8 million; and miscellaneous cost estimates will be developed based on the approved contract requirements.
Durrell said regarding the status of the projects, “Based on the contract approval, they’ll be able to sign and execute that contract and then after that, we will have a kickoff meeting where we’ll discuss Dr. Dedeaux’s expectations and all of the preplanning stuff we’ve done at each school, as well as the budget for each school.
He continued, “Then, they will start their site visits and start to gather their pricing on each scope.”
One of the needs that is anticipated to be addressed soon is the HVAC replacement, which GPDS superintendent, Dr. Glenn Dedeaux said is “very important.”
During an executive session, the board discussed the following:
* Concerns pertaining to the curriculum at Greenville High and how the principal would handle that aspect, which led to the consensus of directing the superintendent to look into it;
* Whether or not a potential conflict of interest existed in a staffing situation regarding another principal;
* Performance and qualifications of the assistant federal programs director in connection with whether or not the district needs to broaden or look at additional staffing in that area as well as the adequacy of the current individual;
* Administrative performance in the early college high school and related concerns that had been raised in the past; and
* An employee termination recommendation.
Further details regarding the termination will be ascertained after the minutes of Thursday’s meeting have been approved and entered into the official record.
