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March 11, 2008

<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>R-8 board awards contract for building South Middle School<font color="#ff0000"> w/ middle-school renderings and construction time line</font>

By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

The Joplin R-8 Board of Education on Tuesday night awarded a construction contract to build the future South Middle School, but a local carpenters union wasn’t happy with the selection.

Board members tabbed R.E. Smith Construction of Joplin for the job. The company’s bid of $18,140,000 was the lowest submitted. But Dave Wilson, a spokesman for Carpenters Local No. 311, alleged during the meeting that a subcontractor in the bid had violated federal and state labor laws.

“The board has the option not to choose the low bidder if it doesn’t believe it is a responsible contractor,” Wilson said. He said the union hopes the district works with R.E. Smith to find another subcontractor.

The subcontractor’s bid was about $300,000. Architect Vincent Brannon said the next-lowest bid from a subcontractor for the job was about $35,000 more.

Wilson, under questioning from board member Mark Smith, said the subcontractor had been punished for violating prevailing-wage laws, and that a case of being out of compliance with the National Labor Relations Board was being appealed.

“So this is not a situation where (the contractor) is out of compliance with current law,” Smith said. “We’re finding out about this on the night when we need to vote, and when time is of the essence.”

Officials with R.E. Smith were not present at the meeting. Brannon said he had spoken with company officials about the situation.

“They said they had worked with the company on several projects,” Brannon said. “They have no reason to change unless we demand a change.”

Board member Ashley Micklethwaite suggested having a conversation with R.E. Smith about the subcontractor. But, it was not known whether a different contractor could be secured at the same quoted price.

Board members also discussed one of the alternative projects in the contract, a $261,000 restroom and storage area to be located on the south end of the property on East 50th Street that is to be the site of the new South Middle School.

The area is used by the Joplin Youth Football Association for practice. The restrooms would accommodate the players and their parents, eliminating the need for portable restrooms.

Brannon said the building was added as an alternative at the request of the administration. Micklethwaite said the board didn’t get a chance to discuss it, and recommended that the alternative not be accepted.

“That’s $261,000, and we still have North and Memorial to do,” Micklethwaite said. “The board didn’t even talk about this. It just popped up.”

Superintendent Jim Simpson said the restroom building was added to prevent the usage of the future school’s restrooms.

“If we don’t have this, they will be coming to the school, and that means we need to have custodians there,” Simpson said. “There will be a lot of athletic facilities out there.”

Micklethwaite voted in favor of the original motion “with reservations,” she said. It passed unanimously. The work is being financed by a $57.3 million bond issue authorized by voters last April.

In other business, the board heard an update on the search for a new superintendent. Simpson will be leaving at the end of the school year for a job with the Lindbergh School District in suburban St. Louis.

Robert Watkins, a search consultant with the Missouri School Boards’ Association, said he expects more than 20 applications for the position by the deadline of March 21.

“We’ve had about 25 requests for application packets,” Watkins said. “They usually won’t request those unless they are serious about the job.”

He said the references and backgrounds of each of the candidates would be checked. The background checks will be paid out of the fee that the district will pay the state association for its services.





Superintendent search



The Joplin R-8 School Board will narrow the pool of superintendent candidates down to between four and six. Interviews will be conducted during the last week of March. The board hopes to have a new leader hired by April 4.

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