By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

RESERVE – St. John the Baptist Parish School Board members held a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the changes to the request for proposal draft to award the disaster management recovery services contract.
During last Thursday’s meeting, the School Board’s attorney, Orenthal Jasmin, revealed that the manner in which the board awarded the DMRS contract to two companies, CSRS and HGI Environmental Services, was not in compliance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency rules. Jasmin recommended they begin the process with a new draft of the request for proposals, or RFP.
Felix Boughton, the executive director of business and finance, began the discussion by expounding on changes that the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Pre-pare-dness recommended.
Boughton said the original RFP’s point system would allow the board to award the contract to the top three scoring companies simultaneously. He suggested that they scrap it completely and make it so that each company that turns in a proposal would have three different evaluations — one for design, one for branch administration and one for project administration.
Boughton also said that if the company who is awarded the contract is given points for having an office within 20 miles of the declared disaster area, wording should be changed to ensure the company maintains that office during the entire life of the DMRS contract to prevent scams.
The board also reviewed the scoring criteria for company evaluation and made minor changes.
Boughton said St. John Parish School Board will advertise for proposals for three consecutive Wednesdays, beginning last Wednesday, March 27. Proposals are due on April 12.
Board member Gerald Keller stated that a planning meeting with Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the hiring firm that was chosen to aid the superintendent search, will take place Tuesday, April 2, at 3 p.m. in the Godchaux Grammar Cafeteria. The meeting will establish criteria and a potential timeline for the search.