BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Bloomfield School Board awarded the contract to put a new roof on the Middle School to Pyramid Roofing in Sikeston at a cost of $166,530 at their regular meeting Monday night. The board also reorganized, electing Bill Robison as president.
The district received five bids on the new roof for the Middle School. The project specifications called for a mineral membrane new roof with metal flashing over the 10-foot span from the gutters back up the roof line. The board received the following bids:
Jonesboro Building of Jonesboro, Ark., $184,424;
Pyramid Roofing of Sikeston, Mo., $166,530;
Quality Roofing of Senath, Mo., $199,550;
Shay Roofing of Columbia, Mo., $184,057;
Swift Roofing of Murray, Ky., $178,000.
Superintendent Toni Hill said the project came in under the estimated cost of $200,000. She said roofing contractors were competing for jobs, and that worked to benefit the Bloomfield District. Funds for the roof will come from money left from a bond issue passed by district voters to put new roofs on the elementary and high school. The board approved a lease purchase extension to fund the Safe Room now under construction on the campus.
Pyramid Roofing was the contractor for the new elementary and high school roofs. Board members were satisfied with their previous work, and there was little further discussion.
The motion was made and seconded to award the contract to Pyramid, and it passed unanimously with all board members present.
The meeting opened by reorganizing the board following the recent election. Board Members Dave Cooper and Don Lafferty ran unopposed. Hill presided over the reorganization, and asked for nominations for president. Robison was nominated as was Ryan Mayo. By a roll call vote, Robison was elected by 4-3 with past President David Battles casting the tie-breaker in favor of Robison. Robison then presided for the remainder of the meeting.
John Newell was elected vice president, Mayo was elected secretary and Trevor Pulley was elected treasurer by unanimous votes.
In other action, the board also approved a new medical insurance plan for the district.
Hill told the board that the insurance was with Blue Cross through the SEMO Consortium. The Consortium gives smaller districts like Bloomfield better bargaining power with insurers. Hill said the Consortium voted to switch from Blue Cross to Conventry Health Care. She said the switch was due to a rate increase from Blue Cross.
Hill submitted three different plans to the board which will be made available to employees. The first plan is an HSA and would cost $386.29 per month for an individual. The second plan is a Premium Saver PPO at a cost of $416.13 for an individual. That plan has a $1,500 deductible. The third plan is a PPO with a $3,000 deductible. That plan would cost an individual $345.30 per month. Hill said it gave employees in the district a choice.
A teacher representative told the board, "We are pleased with the choices."
Hill said a representative of the insurer would meet with employees to discuss the new plans.
The board approved the insurance by a unanimous vote.
The board also approved school breakfast and lunch prices for the next school year. The rates will remain the same as this year - 80 cents for breakfast, $1.60 for a middle school lunch and $1.75 for a high school lunch.
Hill said the middle and high school breakfast programs had not been serving many students. She said the school is trying a new program, "Grab and Go," with breakfast sandwiches offered. She said 49 students took advantage of the new program on the first day, which was favorable.
Hill said the FEMA Safe Room was nearly completed. She said there were some minor touchups to be made. She said everything should be completed by late this week or early next week. The board hopes to set a date for an Open House for the public to view the new facility.
"It is more impressive on the inside than on the outside," said a board member.
Hill reviewed several bills in the Missouri House and Senate that would effect education. She outlined those bills and told the board the position held by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
* HB 470 provides that state money transfers with students enrolling in a charter school. DESE is against the bill because it would take formula money away from the local school district.
* HB 22 increases a district's bonding capacity. It would require to voter approvals - one for the bond issue itself and one to increase the bonding capacity. DESE supports the bill.
* SB 270 would require additional public input on implementing the common core program. DESE is against the bill because district's have already been preparing and spending money to implement the program.
* HB 616 prohibits DESE from implementing the common core program. DESE is against the bill.
* HB 631 changes the policy for teacher termination, tenure and several other contractual items. DESE opposes. Hill said it would actually make it "harder to terminate an ineffectual teacher."
In executive session, the board accepted the resignations of Jan Bell as elementary librarian and Debbie Bollinger as elementary art teacher. Both are retiring. The board voted to rehire all classified personnel. The board hired Lacy Bennett as high school special education teacher, and then approved adding Kaylee Dukes and Amanda Fortner as substitute teachers.