Facility Study
A very important responsibility of the Board of Education is to carefully plan the use of district funds to provide an education for our students and to maintain our facilities in which that education is provided. The Board of Education determined a need to develop a more definitive and long term budget plan for the school district. A large part of that planning is facility maintenance and upkeep. Four years ago, in 2015, the board requested a facility study to determine the deficiencies of the 63 year old Primary Building and the future maintenance needs of the 3 - 12 facility.
Under the guidance and recommendation of the previous administration, Johnson Controls was asked to come in and conduct a facility study. Unfortunately, they study was not complete and focused mainly on proposals for new HVAC Systems for the Primary Building. The board chose not to accept the costly proposals until a more detailed study was completed on the infrastructure of both buildings. This was not accomplished and became a priority for the board when searching for a new Superintendent in March, 2018.
After Ms Simpson began her position as Superintendent of LCPS in July 2018, the board directed her to begin the bid process for a Facility Study to be conducted as soon as possible.
Following discussions to determine what it was that we needed to learn from a study of our facilities, the board, in October of 2018, sent out RFPs (Requests for Proposals) and began to receive bids to complete the facility study.
In November 2018, members of the board’s Building Committee met to study the proposals that had been received. At the December 2018 meeting, the Building Committee recommended the proposal from Wilkins ADP for the board’s consideration. Following discussion, the board voted to enter into negotiations with Wilkins to complete the study on all district facilities, focusing on Plumbing, Electrical, and Mechanical Systems, ADA requirements, Safety concerns, and options to accommodate Pre K.
The contract with Wilkins ADP of Kearney was approved at the January 2019 meeting by the Board of Education. Wilkins was selected because their proposal was the least expensive ($5000.00 plus expenses to cover printing and communication costs), their close proximity to our district, their experience with other school districts in the area and their familiarity with our community, having done work for the City of Loup City.
After visits from architects and various engineers, the assessment was completed and presented to the board in February, 2019. This information is being used to develop a plan, both short term and long term, for facility upkeep and facility projects to meet the educational and safety needs of the district.