By Tricia Pursell
SELINSGROVE — The announcement Monday night of a $33,000 change order request for the Selinsgrove Elementary School construction project frustrated school board members, who said it isn’t the first change to the original design plan they have had to fix.
“We seem to have had a significant amount of design problems on this subject,” said board member Larry Augustine. He was upset, he said, that the only solution they continued to find was for the school district to pay for the designers’ mistakes.
Superintendent Fred Johnson said he is aware of the problem and that the subject has been broached and soon will be discussed by officials. A list of all the problems is being compiled, he said.
The new $33,000 change order reflects inefficiency of new kitchen equipment and a need to adjust shelving and enlarge a new triple sink to bring it up to state sanitation standards, said Kevin Oswald, food service director.
“The kitchen design was poor,” Oswald added. “It’s horrendous. And it’s a shame. We want to be excited about it.”
The designer, he said, “didn’t do his homework.”
Board member Cynthia O’Hora made a motion that the change order be covered by the food and nutrition department’s checking account, which she said has a balance of $241,000.
“It can certainly cover this purchase,” she said.
Oswald said his needs for next year could result in him easily spending $100,000 just to replace the outdated computers and a $30,000 to $40,000 dish-washing machine.
“When you have a balance, you want to save it because you don’t know,” he said.
The board voted down her proposal 5-4 and later voted unanimously to pay the change order from the building fund account.
Renovation projects at the high school can use whatever is left after the elementary school project is completed, said Jeff Hummel, business manager.
The contingency amount for the elementary school project is $300,000.
In other business, school board members praised Charles Longwell, high school assistant principal, for quickly obtaining enough H1N1 virus vaccinations for the district’s students.
Its scarcity in other parts of the nation and news reports that many who received the vaccination would not have access to the booster shots prompted member Paul Spiegel to commend Longwell.
There may even be enough, Longwell said, to provide for distribution in other parts of the community. More than 720 students were vaccinated last week.
Johnson said aside from the initial crush and waiting line the morning the vaccination was offered, he received a lot of positive feedback. He thanked staff members for their efforts.
Also on Monday, in preparation for the looming date for passing a 2010-11 budget for the school district, Hummel told the board the district will not be allowed to raise taxes more than 2.4 percent — the lowest amount he has seen in 40 years. It is 27 percent less than the national average, he said.
The cap for the adjusted index for the 2010-11 school year will be 3.8 percent. The previous four-year average was 5 percent.
A preliminary budget for the district must be approved by Feb. 17.
Board President Eric Rowe presented plaques to three outgoing directors.
The plaques, from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, recognized the service of David Hostetter, who has been on the board for eight years; William Robinson, 14 years; and Cynthia O’Hora, four years.
“It’s been a pleasure serving on this board,” Hostetter said, calling it “always professional.” “Everybody, I felt, had the interest of the students at heart.”
