Middle School Project Updates
by Greg Barnes
December 04, 2009
MIDDLE SCHOOL UPDATE
This article is dedicated to keeping the public informed of the events that have taken place relative to the new middle school project. I will try to keep it updated so patrons may follow progress. In the future you may click on the Superintendents link on the school's website to access the updates.
February 11, 2008 Regular Board Meeting:
The board approved a motion to hire DLR Architectural Firm to study the school districts facilities and report their findings to the board of education. Numerous meetings with faculty, staff, and a committee made up of administrators, board members, faculty, staff, and community members followed.
November 17, 2008 Special Board Meeting:
This special board meeting was called to invite the public to the High School Theater to review the facilities study and findings with representatives from DLR architectural firm.
March 4, 2009 Special Meeting (Board/Administrator Retreat):
The board of education formulated priorities for the upcoming school year and the following priority was approved relative to school facilities:
The board and administration will continue to address facilities needs.
A. The leadership team will continue the current process seeking community input on alternative plans for the Middle School.
B. The board will develop consensus on the direction for the Middle School by the end of the summer.
March 12 to March 30, 2009:
Superintendent Greg Barnes, administrators, and various board members held community meetings in Goehner, Bee, Staplehurst, Garland, and Ulysses to discuss the facilities study with patrons and receive input relative to facilities.
May 4 and May 7, 2009:
Patrons of the school district were invited to tour the middle school. Faculty, staff, and middle school students led the guided tours.
August 10, 2009 Regular Board Meeting:
The Seward Board of Education approved a resolution to proceed with the steps necessary to build a new middle school on a new site.
August 31, 2009 Special Board Meeting:
Rex Schultze of the Perry, Guthery, Haase & Gessford Law Firm of Lincoln discussed various topics relative to school construction.
September 14, 2009 Regular Board Meeting:
During the 5:30 study session of the school board, board members discussed many issues relative to the new middle school project. They reviewed board policies on construction, they discussed educational consultants, architect requests for letters of interest, visiting recently built middle schools, and construction delivery methods.
September 30, 2009 Special School Board Meeting:
On September 30, the Seward Board of Education met in special session to visit with two educational consulting firms. Both firms help school districts evaluate educational needs for new buildings and work with the architect and district to design a building that meets those educational needs.
The board listened to Gary Cooper from Educational Facility Planning and Management, LLC out of Omaha, and Jerry McCall of Educational Consulting Services out of Lincoln.
The board also approved a motion to authorize Superintendent Barnes and district legal counsel Rex Schultze to request letters of interest from architectural firms regarding the new middle school project.
October 12, 2009 Regular Board Meeting:
The Board of Education again discussed the new middle school project. There were concerns among board members so President Seaman took time to ask many questions and then asked board members for input.
The first question was relative to a bond election timeline. The consensus of the board was that they did not foresee being ready for the general election in May of 2010. After May, the options are either waiting for the November, 2010 election or calling for a special election at polling places or by mail (by mail only if the County Clerk is willing).
The board then discussed the use of an educational consultant. Though they were not all 100% certain, for the most part, they could see the value in having a consultant help with educational planning vs. relying solely on the architect. They believe the consultant will better represent the school district; however, the board is aware that architects typically include a charge for this in their contract with school districts, and the board will guard against paying twice for this service.
The board discussed the various options available to them for construction delivery methods. Without going into a ten page detailed communication describing all options available, the main difference in options is whether or not to hire a construction manager or a general contractor. With the general contractor approach, the board would work with the architect (and possibly an educational consultant) to design a building, then if the bond issue passes, they would request bids from construction firms to build the new building. The firm awarded the bid would build the new middle school. With the construction manager approach, the school board would hire a construction manager (construction company), to work with the board and architect during the design phase as well as the construction phase. This process allows for construction firm input before the design in finalized. The construction phases of the project would still be bid to reap the financial rewards of the bidding process, but the construction manager would be on board throughout the entire project.
The board also spent time talking about the architect hiring process. The board has requested letters of interest from firms. The facilities committee will be responsible for reviewing the applications and ranking the firms. The firms receiving the highest rankings will be interviewed by the entire board at a duly convened board meeting which will be open to the public.
October 21, 2009:
Legal counsel, Rex Schultze, superintendent Greg Barnes, and School District of Seward facilities committee members, Ryne Seaman, Jerry Rumery, and Scott Pekarek met with architectural/engineering firms at the school district office. This was a pre-submittal conference for those firms planning to submit a letter of interest for the proposed middle school project. All firms interested in this project were required to attend this conference.
November 5, 2009 - 6:00 PM
The Facilities Committee of the Board of Education meeting at the district office to review proposals submitted by architectural firms in order to formulate a recommendation to the entire board a group of finalists to interview for the project.
November 9, 2009 - 7:00 PM
The Board of Education met in regular session to discuss the Facilities Committees recommendations for architect finalists. A motion was made and the vote unanimous to interview architectural firms in a duly convened school board meeting, in open session, as follows:
Monday, November 16, 2009 - Sinclair Hille Architects - 6:00 PM
BCDM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - The Clark Enersen Partners - 6:00 PM
DLR Group - 8:00 PM
The Board of Education, on Nov. 9, also took action to approve a letter of agreement with Educational Consulting Services to assist the district with educational programming for a new middle school.
November 23, 2009 - December 1, 2009
A group of board members, administrators and maintenance personnel will be touring middle schools designed by the architectural firms that were interviewed. They will be touring Hastings Middle School, Scott Middle School in Lincoln, Norris Middle School, and Alice Buffet Middle School in Omaha.
December 2, 2009
The Board of Education held a special meeting, at which the board ranked the four finalists architectural firms interviewed for the new middle school project. The Clark Enersen Partners firm received the highest ranking, so now we will enter into contract negotiations with their representatives.
January 11, 2010, Regular Board Meeting
Architect: The board approved a contract with The Clark Enersen Partners
Construction Delivery Method: The board approved the Construction Management at Risk construction delivery method for the middle school project, adopted policies required by law for this process, and appointed a committee as required by law to aid in the selection process.We will soon ask construction management firms to submit proposals for this project. Those proposals will be reviewed by the committee and ranked. Those with the highest rankings will be interviewed by the school board.
February 8, 2010, Board Meeting
The board met with Marc Munford of Ameritas to discuss bond election dates and the impact on bond interest and tax levies.
The board discussed meeting with architectural firm The Clark Enersen Partners, education consultant Jerry McCall, and Marc Munford to discuss possible middle school sites in Seward. They would also like to have further discussion on the timeline and voter education. That meeting was set for Wednesday, February 17 at 7:30 PM at the District Office. This is a special board meeting and will be open to the public.
