By Crystal Hayduk
The Chelsea School District (CSD) Board of Education approved the final batch of contractor bids for the partial remodeling, gym and weight room additions at Chelsea High School (CHS) at its meeting on Nov. 9.
Superintendent Julie Helber said the district is required to accept the lowest qualified bidder. Rick Hutter of Clark Construction, Sarah Haselschwardt of Kingscott, and Tim Courtright, CSD’s operations director, interview the bidders to determine their status as “responsive” or qualified.
Helber said, “In totality, we are coming in below what we projected for both of these projects together.” The bids below include an additional 4 percent for Clark’s overhead and 7 percent for construction contingency to cover unforeseen circumstances.
The board unanimously approved the following bids:
- Royal West Roofing, $293,779, for roofing
- Roseville Glass Company, $284,320, for glazing
- Walker Commercial Interiors, $134,538, for drywall, framing, and ceilings
- Kuhn Specialty Flooring, $190,289, for wood gymnasium flooring
- Shamrock Floorcovering Services, $262,804, for carpet and resilient flooring
- Michielutti Brothers, Inc., $34,608, for hard tile
- Conci Painting, $253,529, for painting
- C&M Associates, LLC, $63,140 for gymnasium equipment
- Interkal, LLC, $408,934 for telescoping stands [bleachers]
- Paul E. Bengel Company, $325,828 for plumbing
- Asphalt Specialties, Inc., $465,150 for asphalt
- Fessler, $764,494 for earthwork
During her superintendent’s report, Helber shared an analysis of county COVID-19 data and how it relates to the district.
The number of new cases per 100,000 people in the last 14 days indicates a moderate risk of school transmission, but the percent positive and local mitigation efforts indicate a lower risk of school transmission. According to the MISafeStart Map, 183.5 cases per million puts the county at the highest risk, but factoring in a positive test rate of only 3.6 reduces the risk to medium.
At the district level, staff or students in individual buildings have tested positive for COVID-19, but so far there are no outbreaks where cases are linked.
Helber said some county districts are returning to virtual instruction now, primarily due to an increase in local COVID-19 cases and illness that prevents staffing schools in a hybrid format.
“We’re doing okay right now,” she said. “We’re checking the data constantly, and when we get a positive COVID-19 result, we start our own internal tracking.”
Marcus Kaemming, assistant superintendent, said there is regular illness on top of COVID-19 leading to absent staff, so principals in all three open buildings have needed to substitute teach.
He said communication with and guidance from the Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD) has been important, but admitted that WCHD staff are overwhelmed with 80-100 new cases of COVID-19 per day. He described the time Marijane Nelson, the district’s nurse, and he put into contact tracing as “rich.”
Helber thanked district parents and guardians for cooperating with the morning screening procedure and keeping students home when they have any symptoms.
“We hope with our local mitigation efforts we can keep our kids in school and move along our COVID-19 ladder,” she said.
In response to debate among Michigan superintendents regarding whether or not snow days should be called or not given the option of virtual instruction, Helber asked if board members had strong feelings either way. She said the argument for snow days includes the mental health benefit to an unexpected day off and keeping some semblance of normalcy. However, virtual instruction may eliminate the need for a snow day.
Board member Keri Poulter brought up the concern of safe transportation for students and staff in a hybrid model. Board member Tammy Lehman said she is in favor of snow days because students have already missed out on fun things since the start of the pandemic.
A decision will be made at a future board meeting.
South Meadows Principal Stacie Battaglia introduced the district’s new half-time music teacher, Dawn Schell. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Northern Michigan University where she was part of the marching band, and earned her master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University. Schell, who also teaches private lessons on trumpet, trombone, and guitar, “built an entire band program from ground zero” during her seven years at Livingston Christian School before taking a position in Ypsilanti for the last few years.
“She was wonderfully excited to come to Chelsea,” said Battaglia.
In his report to the board, CHS Principal Mike Kapolka congratulated Brad Bush for being named the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Regional Athletic Director of the Year for Region #6, and Jason Morris for being named Middle School Athletic Director of the Year for Region #14.
Upcoming dates:
The board will hold a virtual work session at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 23.
There will be no school for students on Nov. 25; one-half day for teachers.
There will be no school Nov. 26-27 for Thanksgiving break.
The next regular school board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 14, location to be determined.
