Marion County Board of Education awards $588K contract to replace roof at East Dale Elementary
May 21—FAIRMONT — Contractors will work throughout the summer to replace the leaky roof at East Dale Elementary.
The Marion County Board of Education at Monday's meeting accepted a roughly $588,000 bid from Sutter Roofing for the job. Fixing the roof is a high priority as this past year alone there have been 41 maintenance calls to deal with the school's roof.
"I believe it's 14 years past its lifetime this year," Andy Price, a maintenance supervisor and heavy equipment operator for the school board, said. "It's woefully in need of some repair, it's in bad shape. We're going to end up with damage in the school and we have some now that we can't see yet. We need to get it done as soon as possible."
Prior to approval, Price said they were on schedule to have the roof replacement finished before the start of the 2024-25 school year, with no interruption to staff or students.
Ralph Pedersen, from McKinley Architecture and Engineering, said the low amount of the bid surprised him. The firm anticipated a price tag in the seven- to eight-hundred thousand dollar range. Board President Donna Costello expressed concern the low estimate would lead to change orders.
A change order is an amendment to a contract that amends such things as cost or time to completion. Change orders in the past for other Marion County Schools projects have increased costs by significant amounts.
Pedersen was relatively sanguine on the prospect of change orders but still hedged his bets.
"When you open up the roof, you don't know what you're going to find," Pedersen said. "I will tell you that we have three roofs under construction in Harrison County right now. The change orders were minimal. When I say minimal — 3% — in that range."
In other business, School Superintendent Donna Heston also clarified a misperception related to the 40 positions that the board cut system wide to bring the budget into line.
"No one lost a job in Marion County Schools," she said. "I think that's important when you read that. Over 40 positions were redistributed or realigned. I think it's very important that the public understands we didn't eliminate 40 teaching and service positions in Marion County. No one for the last two years lost a job in Marion County."
Heston reiterated that the 40 employees who had their positions cut found placements in other parts of the school system. She said due to loss of enrollment, vacancies and retirements, positions could be shifted around the district or redistributed. There was no reduction in force or termination, meaning those 40 will still be found someplace in the district next year.
Incoming board member Kevin Rogers stopped by to acquaint himself with the board and get up to speed with what the board is working on. He will replace board member Richard Pellegrin in July. Pellegrin congratulated Rogers on his win, and also lauded the other candidates who ran for school board.
"I don't think I've ever seen in a board election the quality of people that were running for one seat," Pellegrin said. "I don't remember that. I just told Tom, usually there's a crackpot or two."
Board member George Boyles added he was glad Rogers will bring his background in business to the board. The board also congratulated James Saunders for winning reelection. Saunders enters his fourth decade serving public schools.
New Fairmont City Manager Travis Blosser also stopped by to introduce himself. A product of Marion County Schools, Blosser earned high marks from the board for not only stopping by to introduce himself, but for staying the entire meeting. Blosser said he hopes to build a strong relationship with the school system, saying Fairmont succeeds when its schools succeeds.
Curtis Crabtree will take over from June Haught as Principal of West Fairmont Middle School.
The next regular board meeting is scheduled for June 3.
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
