By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

RESERVE – After declining to take action on bids received for renovation work at East St. John High School at last week’s regular St. John the Baptist Parish School Board meeting, the board met Thursday night to reconsider the matter.

Low bidder Volute Inc.’s bid of nearly $3.3 million came in well over the project’s budget of $2.7 million. To remedy this, consulting firm CSRS suggested the board accept the bid contingent upon the company accepting an immediate change order that would reduce the scope of the project and bring it within budget.

Although the firm’s representatives made this suggestion last week, board members were reluctant to move forward without knowing the details of the reductive change order.

Thursday evening, Floyd Luster of CSRS had those details.

The suggested change order outlined that A/C units in 21 classrooms would be reused, and the scale of the electrical work would be reduced. These changes would reduce the cost of the project by more than $550,000 and bring it under budget.

“That would really consist of not taking away from the basic quality of the project but just reducing the scope,” said Luster.

Board Vice President Clarence Triche was the first to voice objection to the plan.

Having worked in the air conditioning/heating business for many years, Triche said he believed reusing the decades-old units would end up costing the district far more in the long run.

“It’s kind of foolish not to accept the entire bid,” said Triche. “Let’s go back and find the extra money.”

Triche then moved the board accept the bid as is. Upon the advice of legal counsel Lloyd LeBlanc, the clause “contingent upon the approval of the Advisory Board” was added to the motion. The Advisory Board consists of a representative from the parish president’s office, a representative from the River Region Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of LaPlace president, Rev. Herman Clayton, a representative from the West Bank Civic Association and local industry representatives. Adding the clause eliminated the need for the board to call yet another special meeting.

If approved, the extra money will likely come from one of the projects that has not yet begun.

“I would recommend looking at the covered play areas,” said Luster.

Triche’s motion passed by a vote of 8-1. Russell Jack cast the lone opposing vote. Board members Albert Burl III and Rodney Nicholas were absent.

The only other item on Thursday’s agenda was a series of grievances from the St. John Association of Educators.

The grievances first appeared on the board’s agenda in November 2010, and the administration suggested the board not hear the grievances because SJAE has not adhered to time guidelines governing such matters. Disagreements over the nature of the postponements, however, led the board to agree to hear the grievances.

Although the administration suggested hearing the grievances would set an unwanted precedent, board member Russ Wise said, “We are not bound by our own precedents,” before offering the motion to hear SJAE out.

Despite lengthy pleas from SJAE, of the five grievances heard, the board upheld the administration’s rulings, which all either dismissed each grievance as having no merit or having already been resolved, in every case but one.

Two of the grievances concerned claims that employees were asked to perform duties outside the scope of their job description.

Said Superintendent Courtney Millet, “In light of the school district’s tight budget, it was incumbent upon administration to re-delegate work that, in the past, was completed by outside contractors. After reviewing the work log of certain positions, administration determined that these individuals could perform these additional tasks within the scope of their day.”

A sixth grievance on the agenda, which dealt with a bus driver’s claim to have been put in unsafe working conditions, was postponed at the request of SJAE.