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Wood BOE approves 2017-18 meeting schedule

Approves change orders for Criss project

Wood County Schools Assistant Superintendent Mike Fling addresses the Wood County Board of Education on Tuesday concerning change orders on a project at Criss Elementary School. (Photo by Michael Erb)

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education on Tuesday approved a meeting schedule for the 2017-18 school year.

The new schedule begins in July and runs through June 2018, with most meetings being held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.

In December, the meetings will be held the first and third Tuesdays, Dec. 5 and 19, due to holidays. In April, three meetings will be held. April 10 and 24 are regular meetings while April 17 is a statutory budget meeting.

The board opted to return the meetings to their regular time of 6:30 p.m., rather than 6 p.m. which was listed on Tuesday’s agenda.

“I think we should stick with the 6:30 start time,” said board member Ron Tice. An earlier start time “puts a hardship on the parents to get here when they get off work at 5 (p.m.), and we want as many parents here as possible.”

The board also approved seven Local School Improvement Council meetings in October, with about three or four schools presenting each night and each school having about 30 minutes to present information. The board also wants to have the meetings at a different school each night, and will offer those presenters the opportunity to host the meeting.

Though they originally asked to consider a 5 p.m. start time, the board chose to begin those LSIC meetings at 6 p.m.

The board also approved two change orders for a project at Criss Elementary School.

Assistant Superintendent Mike Fling, who oversees facilities for Wood County Schools, said the district is required by the Parkersburg Utility Board to install large-volume grease traps in its school cafeterias. The installation requires sections of cafeteria and kitchen floors to be cut and removed in order to install the lines for the grease tanks.

When crews cut into the floors at Criss Elementary, Fling said, they discovered a problem. The area beneath the floor allowed fresh air into the building, and Fling said when he asked installers to clean that area of dust, they found a decayed plastic vapor barrier between the dirt and the building.

“When they went in there to vacuum all of that out, when they began to pull out the lint, the vapor barrier came with it,” he said.

The crews will now put down a new vapor barrier, Fling said. The cost of that addition will be $4,341. The original project was $36,450, and any change order of more than 10 percent of the entire cost has to be brought before the board for approval.

Fling also presented a change order for $1,150 to upgrade tile being placed in the school’s kitchen. Though below the 10 percent, Fling said he wanted to explain the change because the more expensive tile has a tread which should reduce the chance of a slip and injury.

The board unanimously approved both change orders.

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