A PARENT/STUDENT HEARING & EMPLOYEE HEARING WAS
SCHEDULED PRIOR TO THIS REGULAR MEETING
JASPER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
PRESENT: Kathleen Snooks, Patricia Walls, Mary Gallagher,
Jerry Walker, David Cope, Randy Horton (T),
Berty Riley (T) and Priscilla Fraser (T)
ABSENT: Michael Hubbard
1. CALL TO ORDER – This meeting was called to order at 5:33 p.m., by Kathleen Snooks, Chairperson, in the District Office Boardroom, Ridgeland, S.C. to conduct
a parent hearing.
2. ROLL CALL & ESTABLISHMENT OF A QUORUM – 5P/3T/1A
3. NOTIFICATION OF NEWS MEDIA – The following news media
were notified of the date, time, place and agenda of
this meeting: Jasper Sun/Hardeeville Times, Beaufort
Gazette, The Island Packet, Savannah Morning News,
The Gullah Sentinel, WSAV, WTOC, WJCL and WTGS.
4. INVOCATION – The invocation was led by Sister Mary Gallagher, Board Chaplain.
5. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The pledge to the flag was
recited by the Board and audience.
6. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS & STAFF – Dr. Singleton
recognized Mr. & Mrs. Moultrie, Dr. Coleen Finklea,
Mr. Eddie Ogden and Mrs. Kim Benton.
Mrs. Snooks welcomed everyone to the meeting.
PARENT/STUDENT HEARING – Dr. Singleton explained the reason for this hearing.
Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion to go into Executive
Session for this hearing, because the attorney had advised the Board that all hearings related to students should be conducted in closed session.
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
PAGE TWO
A motion was made by Patricia Walls and seconded by Jerry Walker to go into Executive Session for this hearing. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 5-0.
THE BOARD ENTERED INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 5:36 P.M.
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THE BOARD RETURNED TO OPEN SESSION AT 6:39 P.M.
The Board continued with the agenda where they had left off prior to the hearing.
7. PUBLIC HEARING(S) – (1) Mrs. Karen Smith (parent) had signed in to address the Board regarding West Hardee-ville Elementary School.
Mrs. Snooks informed the parent that 30 minutes was allotted for Public Hearings. She cautioned her not to call names of students or personnel. She also informed the parent that the Board may not be able to give her a
response this evening.
Mrs. Smith shared a concern that her son was being
retained and the teacher had failed almost the entire
class. She explained that the teacher had given her
son extra work to try to get his grade up so that he
could be promoted. She was notified late that he still
could not be promoted. By this time, the summer school
program had already started. She stated that her son
had failed two subjects by 1-3 points (social studies and science). She then asked the teacher if she would give her son extra work to bring up one of his grades and she would send him to summer school for the other subject. The teacher responded that she could not do anything else because it was against school policy. The parent shared that she is in constant contact with the school and she cannot get any help from anybody.
Mrs. Snooks informed the parent that the Superintendent
would have to get with her to address this situation.
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
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8. *APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion for approval of the agenda. A motion was made by David Cope to amend the agenda by (1) deleting the Lowcountry Education & Business Consortium “Project 89” Presenta-tion [10.2] and reschedule it at a later date, (2) move the Facility Committee Report [10.5] and the contract for Martin Engineering, Inc. [13.1] up on the agenda so Southern Management Group could leave and (3) to add Executive Session for the employee hearing that was not held prior to the board meeting due to lack of time. Randy Horton seconded the motion.
THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 8-0.
[THE BOARD BEGAN WITH THE ITEMS AMENDED IN THE APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA.]
FACILITY COMMITTEE REPORT – Mrs. Fraser shared some highlights from the Facility Committee meeting held on June 2, 2005. She shared that Mr. Horton had concerns regarding the sheetrock to be used. Mr. Dietz informed him that he would get samples of the material used in Darlington. Mr. Horton questioned if they would be using the existing cafeteria equipment or purchasing new equipment for the new schools. He also requested information on the settlement plates. Mr. Hubbard had asked if a depreciation schedule is kept on equipment so the district knows when certain pieces of equipment
needs to be replaced. Mrs. Fraser stated that reports
were shared by Dr. Singleton on the SCANA Funds that were approved by Jasper County Council and the status of the contract for Martin Engineering, Inc. She added that Mr. Dietz would be sharing information on this. This concluded her report.
Dr. Singleton shared with the Board that he received a phone call from Senator Pinckney about the SCANA funds. The State Budget & Control Board must approve the SCANA funds. The State Budget & Control Board will be meet-ing on Tuesday, but already have a full agenda. They will not meet again until August. Senator Pinckney is working on getting this approved.
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
PAGE FOUR
Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion to accept the minutes
from the Facility Committee. A motion was made by
Patricia Walls and seconded by Berty Riley to accept the minutes. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 8-0.
Mr. Dale Collier came forward from Southern Management
Group to explain the contract for Martin Engineering.
He stated that Mr. Dietz was not feeling well but was
present to offer his support. He explained that this contract is for the Base Bid for the Ridgeland PreK-12 School in the amount of $25,500,000. He shared that Martin Engineering is prepared to sign the contract and forward it to the school district for signature.
Mr. Collier shared that some additional changes have been made in the contract since it was placed in the board packet. He stated that this is a standard AIA Document A101-CMa-1992 contract that is used for all construction contracts. He explained what was in the contract. A change was made in Article 3 Date of Commencement and Substantial Completion under 3.2, which gives them 730 days to complete the work with a completion date of June 7, 2007. This is a two-year project and the number of days needed to be corrected.
He explained that Article 4 summarizes the contract
sum for the Base Bid in the amount of $25,500,000.
There are no alternates included in this contract.
Article 5 outlines the payment procedures for the
contract. This allows up to thirty days to process
payment after the Application for Payment is submitted
to the Construction Manager. He explained that in
5.6.1 a retainer of 10% will be withheld for all the
contractor's payments until the Construction Manager
is satisfied with the progress. This is a safeguard
for the district. Article 4.3 includes Attachment A,
which explains the unit prices provided on bid day by the contractor and will be used throughout the dura-tion of the contract. If additional work is required, a unit price is there to add to the contract. Article 6 Final Payment is tied in with Attachment B and explains all of the documents that have to be filed with the Construction Manager in order to receive final payment.
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
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Item 7.4 includes Attachment C, which was not included in the board packet. Mr. Collier explained that this is an affidavit in which the contractor agrees to hold pricing for bid day alternates for thirty days beyond the indicated contract date. The original agreement in the bid form document stated that the contractors bid pricing and alternates would be good for forty-five days. An extra thirty days was added to lock in the pricing for the alternates because they are almost at the forty-five day mark. By the time they receive the bids for the Hardeeville project on June 21st they will be able to make a decision regarding the alternates. The remainder of the contract involves the enumeration of the contract documents with regards to specifica-tions, drawings, addenda, etc. A signature page is included for the Board Chairperson and the President of Martin Engineering to sign.
The board members were given the opportunity to ask
questions.
Mr. Cope questioned contractors being required to
post a bid bond.
Mr. Collier responded that Southern Management Group will handle this. He stated that the contractor has presented this to them.
Mr. Collier shared that there are a couple of alter-
nates that they need to talk about that need to be
included in the pricing for this work. These include
the Cable Tray/Voice Data Communication that needs to
be included in the building for computer needs and the
canopies. They felt that these are good prices and
they would like to lock these in with the contractor.
Mr. Horton questioned the warranties and one-year walk
through at the end of the year.
Mr. Collier explained that they do a final project
inspection to make sure all of the work is completed. The State Department of Education will send their
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
PAGE SIX
inspector to make sure that the building is safe for the students to come in. At that time, they will set
a date to indicate that the one-year occupancy has begun and the contractor will fix anything thing during that one-year period. At the end of the year, a one-year walkthrough will be conducted and a punch list will be put together to correct anything that is needed.
Mr. Collier added that they would be meeting bi-weekly
with the contractor to discuss any weather related delays that would justify additional days being added.
Mrs. Snooks questioned the contractor being required to
pay the district for each day that the work is delayed.
Mr. Collier stated that this clause is included in the contract.
Dr. Singleton questioned the amount ($500.00) included
in the contract for this. He felt it should be more.
Mr. Collier explained that it is has been their experi-ence that this is a fair amount.
Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion for this contract.
A motion was made by Priscilla Fraser to accept the contract for Martin Engineering, Inc. Berty Riley seconded the motion.
Mr. Horton questioned the Board approving a contract
that does not show the revisions.
Mr. Collier passed out copies of the revised document to the Board.
Mr. Horton questioned the Allowances included in the
contract in the board packet under 4.4. This section
was not included in the revised copy that was passed out to the Board.
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
PAGE SEVEN
Mr. Collier responded that they would have to make this
adjustment in the contract for the Allowances.
Mr. Collier was asked to explain what the Allowances are for.
THE MOTION PASSED 7-1.
(Ayes – Riley/Cope/Snooks/Walls/Walker/Fraser/Gallagher)
(Nay – Horton)
Mr. Horton requested that the Board receive a corrected
copy of the contract before it is signed.
9. ADOPTION OF MINUTES – MAY 20-21, 2005, May 23, 2005 &
June 2, 2005 – Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion for
the adoption of these minutes. A motion was made by Patricia Walls and seconded by Berty Riley.
THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 8-0.
EMPLOYEE HEARING – Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion to
go into Executive Session for this employee hearing.
A motion was made by Patricia Walls and seconded by
Randy Horton for Executive Session.
Dr. Singleton informed Mrs. Snooks that Mr. Greene needs to be asked if he prefers an open or closed session.
Mr. Greene stated that he would like a closed hearing.
THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 8-0.
THE BOARD ENTERED INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 7:25 P.M.
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THE BOARD RETURNED TO OPEN SESSION AT 8:36 P.M.
Dr. Singleton made a recommendation that (1) the student’s grade remains the same and (2) that the employee is terminated.
MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2005
PAGE EIGHT
A motion was made by David Cope that the Board honor
the Superintendent’s recommendation for the student being held at the current grade. Randy Horton seconded the motion. THE MOTION PASSED 3-1.
(Ayes – Horton/Cope/Walker)
(Nay – Snooks)
(Abstained – Riley/Walls/Fraser/Gallagher)
Mrs. Snooks entertained a motion from the Board on the
employee hearing. A motion was made by Randy Horton to
withhold termination of the employee until an investi-
gation into the allegations is completed and this can be brought back to the Board. David Cope seconded the
motion. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 8-0.
Dr. Singleton asked for clarification from the Board on
what they wanted him to investigate.
Mr. Horton stated that the employee said that he had
tapes. He suggested that Dr. Singleton listen to them
and bring a report back to the Board.
[BOARD CONTINUED WITH THE AGENDA AS OUTLINED]
10. SPECIAL HEARING(S) -
10.1 *TAN PRESENTATION – MR. ROBERT DAMRON -