BY DAVID VITRANO
L’Observateur

RESERVE—At its last meeting, the St. John School Board approved a number of items introduced by Executive Director of Business and Finance Felix Boughton.

The most debated of these regarded accepting a bid to re-roof part of the Central Office Main Building on West 10th Street in Reserve.

Although everyone was in agreement the roof needs to be replaced, many were concerned about the frequency with which roofs must be completely or partially replaced.

Board member Russ Wise suggested the board use the services of CSRS, the consulting firm aiding in the school district’s master plan, to assess why roofs must be replaced so often and if something could be done to reduce the frequency of replacement.

Also, District 10’s Matthew Ory wondered why there was a disparity in the quality of the roofing materials used in the projects for which the school system has accepted bids since Hurricane Gustav ripped through the area.

Boughton explained FEMA would only pay for the replacement of pre-existing materials and not for any upgrades.

Three bids were submitted for the project. The board accepted a bid from AME Service, which submitted the low bid of $28,397.

The board also accepted a bid of $25,320 from Continental Flooring to retile a portion of Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, also damaged in Hurricane Gustav. That bid, one of five received for the project, came in over $4,000 less than the next lowest bid, which was submitted by Acadian Flooring.

Approximately 13,000 square feet of the school must be re-tiled.

FEMA is expected to pay 90 percent of the costs for both projects.

In other business, the board agreed to solicit bids for the replacement of copiers throughout the district.

The current copiers have been in place for five years and are or at or approaching the end of their life duty cycle. The estimated cost of replacing the copiers is $375,000.

The board will also begin accepting bids for a school bus with a wheel chair lift.

Finally, the board accepted a policy for property insurance. The current policy expired on March 8.

The new policy will be through Louisiana Insurance Service and will cost $873,575 annually. Last year’s premium was $904,677.