Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Sometimes the bidding process works in your favor; other times it doesn’t. It was the former, however, that shined on ISD 831 last week as the school board awarded bids for kitchen remodeling projects and re-roofing at Forest Lake High School.

The district received a nice windfall on bids for the kitchen remodeling project. While total project costs carried a budget of $901,000 prior to going out for bids, the district will spend $674,400 for four contracts awarded by the board March 8.

“Clearly the market was very hungry this time,” said a pleased Larry Martini last week. He’s the district’s director of business affairs.

At last week’s meeting, the board voted to award contracts for the kitchen project that included electrical, mechanical, kitchen equipment and demolition and general construction. In only one case was the board not unanimous.

In voting on the $51,000 low electrical bid from A.A. Hanson, Inc., Osceola, WI, member Dan Kieger was opposed. Kieger said he would have liked to see more local bids and did not like the idea of a Wisconsin company landing a local contract.

Six companies bid the electrical contract. The school budget for the work was $105,000.

The other three bids were unanimous.

The district awarded the kitchen equipment bid to Hockenbergs Food Service Equipment, Minneapolis. They were the low bidder among two companies with a base bid of $310,000. The district budget for equipment was $360,000.

For mechanical work, Thelen Heating & Roofing Co., Brainerd, was the low bidder at $223,700. Six companies bid the mechanical contract which carried a project budget of $261,000.

The demolition and general construction low bid was awarded to Parkos Construction Co., West St. Paul, at $89,700. The contract had a budget of $175,000 and six companies submitted bids.

A similar but small advantage to the district was found in the high school reroofing contract.

Dalbec Roofing, Long Lake, was the low bidder at $308,865 for the final segment of a phased re-roofing effort at the high school. The budget for the project was $310,000. Seven companies bid the project.

School calendar

How the school calendar for the 2007-2008 school year ends up rests in the hands of the Minnesota Department of Education.

The school board conducted its first review of the proposed calendar on March 8 and will take action to adopt the new calendar at its next regular meeting on Thursday, March 29.

The MDE factor is a result of a school application for state Quality Compensation Aid or Q Comp funding. Under a closed door negotiation session recently ratified by the Forest Lake Education Association, the new calendar will include three additional teacher duty days for in-service training designed to improve the district’s AYP in reading and math.

Superintendent Lynn Steenblock said the MDE application is the second of a five step process that will include talks between the district and MDE regarding the application. Steenblock said last week if the MDE does not approve Forest Lake’s funding request, the calendar would be adjusted to subject the three new duty days. Teachers would not be contracted to the days if the plan is rejected by the MDE, he said. The district is seeking $1.9 million in funding.

If the application is accepted, new teachers in the district would report for workshops on Monday, Aug. 13. All staff would be on hand for Q Comp training and in-service sessions and workshops from August 20-30.

The first day of school would be Tuesday, Sept. 4 with the final day of classes Thursday, June 5, 2008.

The Christmas season break would take place Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, 2008. The spring break would take place March 28 through April 4 to accommodate state testing dates and the end of the quarter.

Bill Bresin, board president, said he had already heard from some parents who did not like the idea of an April spring break, but would have preferred an earlier date.

Under the new calendar, kindergarten students would have 172 teacher contact days while students in grades 1-6 would have 174 teacher contact days.

Students in grades 7-12 would have 175 contact days with teachers.

Under the negotiated deal with the teachers’ union, returning teachers would work under a 190 day contract. New teachers hired for this fall would be required to work 194 days.

Steenblock said he was not certain when the MDE would decide on the Forest Lake application for funding.

If a negative ruling comes down after the March 29 board vote on the new calendar, the board could revisit the calendar at that point to make any necessary changes, he said.

By law the new calendar must be adopted by April 1.

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