November 13, 2015 at 4:00 PM - Superintendent's Weekly Update to the Board of Education

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You will see in the attached document a comparison of our construction budget to lowest bids received.  The unfortunate news is we're over $1,879,778.  In reality it's slightly less because $83,917 is added to contingencies.  It's disappointing to see our architecture/engineering fees go up along with the higher bid amounts.  The additional arch/engineering fees is $117,485.

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We now have most all of the final bids for the construction project.  There are just a few unknowns at this time (e.g., ES front entrance and bathrooms).

You will see attached a revised construction budget to address the dollars we're short because of rising construction costs.  At an upcoming special board meeting the board will need to approve this budget along with the numerous contracts from BP3.  It's on our board agenda Monday night to schedule a date.

I have discussed this revised budget in person with Jim and Dale.  I invite all board members to either sit down with me in person too or call me on the phone to discuss the interpretation of the document as well as any thoughts/ideas you may have for the proposed budget.

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Please see attached the minutes from the last construction meeting. 

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You'll notice in the board packet this month a number of FMLA approvals.  We've always had these employee leaves in the past.  The reason we're now having the Board approve them is our employees need a record for TRA and PERA (retirement).  I asked Kelsie to look into this because of a hunch that the Board should approve these - and it's true.  You cannot deny anyone if they qualify, and they do, and we cannot share the reason publicly - it's confidential to the employee and human resources. 

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Confidential documents discussing personnel are attached to this Friday letter.

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Please see attached the weekly bills for your approval.

Note:  I will forward Michelle's email with attached bills when I receive it later today.  I'm in Aberdeen, SD pheasant hunting and will not have my laptop with me in the prairie fields.