School projects move forward
Feb. 28—GUILFORD COUNTY — The Guilford County Board of Education voted unanimously on Saturday to hire a joint venture of HICAPS and C2 Contractors as project manager for $300 million in school construction voters approved in November.
"As you know, the district does not have the capacity to manage this many construction projects at one time, and the decision was made early on to move forward with a project management firm," Superintendent Sharon Contreras said during the board's annual retreat.
A committee of school board members and school staff had interviewed and ranked the four finalist firms that submitted proposals. The board authorized its staff and attorney to resolve any final terms of the contract once it approved the project manager, board attorney Jill Wilson said.
In a related matter, the board also voted 8-1 to approve MWM Construction Inc.'s $765,775 bid for to fully replace windows at Ferndale Middle School in High Point.
T. Diane Bellamy Small cast the sole vote against MWM's bid after expressing her concerns about the firm's lack of minority and women business enterprise involvement. Board members learned MWM Construction has 66% woman business enterprise participation but none from minority businesses.
The school system also will keep the public updated throughout the multiyear construction period through the Guilford County Schools website, Contreras said.
The board's project manager decision is an initial step in what district leaders hope will be the first phase of implementing a $2.6 billion facilities master plan.
"We need to make sure that there is a concerted effort to make sure some of those dollars go to (minority and women business enterprise) participation where it's appropriate," Small said.
David Sturtz, a partner with school planning firm Cooperative Strategies, discussed the expected time frame for designs, architecture and/or demolition at various schools across the district. Renovating schools in east Greensboro that were damaged by a tornado in April 2018 is part of the school district's priority, he said. Successfully completing nine Phase 1 projects and land acquisition for all phases in three years will be aggressive, he added.
One time-saving factor is that the design work for Allen Jay Elementary can help in designing other elementary schools that are magnet programs, Sturtz said.
School projects will start as soon as possible at the following schools:
—Traditional elementary schools: Foust and Claxton
—Specialty elementary schools: Brooks, Hampton-Peeler and Archer
—K-8: Southwest, Peck
Kiser
Sturtz said schools were ranked by condition needs and severity of deficiencies, addressing those in a worst-to-first order.
The ability to operate school during construction was a key consideration for some schools because of small sites, especially in tight urban areas. Using nearby athletic fields that are proposed for upgrades may provide swing space in some cases, such as at Grimsley High School.
Board member Anita Sharpe asked whether it would make sense to flip the order of Archer and Foust because of space constraints of the Foust site, so Archer could be used to house some of those students during construction work. Board members were assured they can talk more about such details along with the time schedule of specific schools before the board meets again at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 9.
cingram@hpenews.com — 336-888-3534 — @HPEcinde
