The Perry County District No. 32 School Board had a full agenda and a lot to discuss during its latest meeting. The board had numerous recognitions and approvals Dec. 8. The most in-depth was the approval of the Perry County Middle School phase three base bid along with alternate bids No. 1 and No. 2 to Brockmiller Construction for $12,304,200.
The project had a total of six bidders with the four lowest separated by $439,000.
The bid was ultimately awarded to Brockmiller Construction, by a 6-1 vote, because many of the sub-contractors also helped with the plumbing, electrical, and other aspects of the FEMA shelter on campus. The alternates have to do with a glazed brick in the multipurpose room, and the other with the exterior of the building. The project is scheduled to begin January 2022.
“That continuity and familiarity is really important,” Board President Jamie Robinson said.
The main question came from board member Rich Dix in terms of the fluctuation of building material prices because of COVID-19.
“Only in extreme circumstances would we go over our bid,” Superintendent Andy Comstock said.
The board also approved the fiscal year 2021 audit presented by Debbie Johns from Van de Ven Auditors,, as well as the paper bid from Contract Paper Group for $31.90 per case. The 2022-2023 academic calendar was also approved.
Board members Nancy Voelker and Casey Brewer announced that Keturah Pyland was selected to be the district representative for the John T. Belcher Scholarship. Pyland will now compete with representatives from other schools for the scholarship.
District COVID-19 Tracker Jennifer Bauwens presented the next round of the data which spanned from June-Dec. 7.
The district is up to 300 total positive cases, which is up 27 from the last meeting, with zero conversions in the last month. A conversion is referred to someone who is a close contact and contracts COVID-19. There was only two active cases on the campus as of Dec. 7. The district is currently working on a “COVID Snapshot” chart to be put on the district website that will be updated to reflect the COVID situation on the campus.
In his superintendent report, Comstock presented to the board the cash flow report for November and the budget analysis to date. He reminded the board of important dates, which included: School board filing dates which started Dec. 7 and ends Dec. 28, 2021 at 5 p.m. Comstock also said inclement weather days will offer instruction. Families that do not have internet service due to dead zones will be provided paper copies of their instruction.
He also offered updates on several maintenance and construction projects including new LED lights added to the Old Senior High gym.
“It’s a brighter situation in the gym and something that is probably long overdue,” Comstock said. “Unfortunately, you can now see how bad the paint job is, so we will have to do that too.”
It was pointed out that Perryville Elementary School Gym has a weird color of green on the basketball court that doesn’t match anything in the room. The project to change the color will begin in the summer.”
The compactor, which was purchased in 1993, continues to leak and Comstock will look to replace it, instead of continuing to patch it together.
The meeting began with multiple recognitions, which included Perryville junior Tegan Bishop, who was honored with a certificate for a tremendous cross-country season. Bishop won six races this year and broke the PHS school record at the Class 4 State Championships with a time of 19:22.10. Tegan also received the 2021 All-Conference, All District and All State honors.
The boys soccer team was also honored after finishing in second place in Class 2 with a 23-4 record. All-Conference, All-District, and All-State players were also honored individually.
The next regularly scheduled meeting will be Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m.
