RCS BOE approves bid for RMS addition
Photo by Alison James
Board of Education President Greg Trapp presents RMS’ Alyssa Green with a recognition certificate following her superior work in the State Superintendents Visual Arts Exhibit in Montgomery.
Russellville Middle School is one step closer to a major expansion following board action at the Russellville City Schools Board of Education meeting Thursday.
RCS Superintendent Heath Grimes recommended, and the board approved, the acceptance of low bid $1,666,333 for the new classroom addition for RMS, with one contingency. The lowest bidder was Butler Construction, out of six bids submitted.
Grimes said that dollar figure could drop slightly. The board approved the bid “contingent on suitable reduction in price within the guidelines of the State of Alabama Bid Law.”
“We have to go with the low bidder … but we’re asking them to remove about $100K,” Grimes explained. As long as the bid is accepted within a 10 percent window of the original bid, Grimes said, RCS is not required to re-bid the project.
Construction should begin soon, within the next two months, and target completion for the addition is November 2017. “Of course, that doesn’t help us for August,” Grimes said. RCS is working to develop a contingency plan to accommodate students since the new construction will not be completed by the first day of school 2017 – which was expected by the board.
Grimes revealed in October 2016 that RCS had begun the process on an addition to accommodate eight new classrooms, new bathrooms, two special education classrooms and a science lab at the middle school. Grimes at that time announced that RCS had contracted with an architect to draw up the plans for the addition. The board bid out the construction, with the total project estimated at $1.5-2 million of reserve funds.
The expansion is necessitated by the large fifth grade class that will rise to the middle school this fall – when compared against the rising eight grade class, RMS will have a net increase of 50 students.
At its Thursday meeting, the board also:
- Approved facility use requests for the RHS Marching Hundred and the RCS Rocketry Team.
- Approved the 2017-18 school calendar; the approved calendar is the one that was selected by majority vote of RCS employees, and it is available to view at www.rcs.k12.al.us. Notable differences compared to last year’s calendar include an earlier first day of school (Aug. 8 instead of Aug.11) and the addition of a two-day break in the fall (creating a long weekend, Oct. 13-16).
- Approved the CNP Application for the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which will provide meals for students involved in afterschool activities.
- Announced Textbook Committee members for each RCS school.
- Approved Fred Ambrosio and Juan Garcia as volunteers for the RCS soccer program.
- Recognized Alyssa Green for Division 1 second place finish in the State Superintendents Visual Arts Exhibit in Montgomery. Green’s work is on display in the Supreme Court Library in the Capitol Building in Montgomery.
