Mitchell Board of Education votes to seek rebids on five parts of athletic facilities project

Erik Kaufman, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·6 min read

Jun. 12—MITCHELL — The Mitchell Board of Education on Monday night voted to rebid a handful of construction items for the new athletic facilities that will now be completed along with the new Mitchell High School after voters approved a $17 million bond to pay for the additions.

The vote was unanimous at 5-0, with board president Deb Olson and board member Terry Aslesen attending the meeting by teleconference. Board members Brittni Flood, Shawn Ruml and Matt Christiansen were all present at the meeting.

The board voted to rebid four portions of the project after the original bidders said they couldn't honor the original submitted bids due to price changes that have occurred in the meantime.

Those four items were for the gypsum wall systems from Sands Drywall, which originally came in at $484,866, resilient flooring from MCI, which originally came in at $399,300, fire suppression from Howe Plumbing, which originally came in at $129,286 and electrical work from Muth Electric, which originally came in at $925,950.

A fifth item, masonry, originally came in with a bid of $1,864,000 from J&D Masonry, but will be rebid due to a discrepancy between the two bids submitted. Steve Culhane, business manager for the Mitchell School District, said a rebid on that part of the construction was recommended to make sure both parties could submit bids with a clear understanding of the specifications.

Christiansen said all the rebids will allow the board another chance to look for opportunities to save money.

"After (the original bids) we found some savings. We should be able to do that for this, as well," Christiansen said.

Joe Childs, superintendent for the Mitchell School District, said it was good to see the need to rebid only five parts of the construction project, given bidders were not obligated to hold their original bids more than 30 days after they were submitted.

"The bids, when they're provided, are only guaranteed for 30 days, so if you think of the time lapse that we've had, there are some bidders who are stepping up in a big ways to make sure that they maintain those bids, and it's important to them as well to see this project through," Childs told the Mitchell Republic following the meeting. "They didn't have to honor those bids, so we're in a good position, we believe. We have the funds to do this and the desire of course is there, and the community wants to see it get done so we feel that support as well. So I think we'll keep moving forward without missing a beat."

The board will release the specification for bidders and then wait for new bids to be submitted. Depending on when those new bids come in, the board can act on them accordingly.

"If we're ready to (at the June 26 board meeting), we'll look at some of those alternate bids that had to be rebid. I don't know if those will be done yet, there is a bit of a process when you go to rebid. The specs have to be released and certain timelines have to be met," Childs said. "If we can get that done before the next board meeting then we may entertain the consideration to approve those as well."

As the process moves forward, Childs said administration and the board would work together to make sure the district gets the most bang for its buck in terms of spending.

"We will continue to value engineer this," Childs said. "But we're completely confident we can complete this project."

The board made the following personnel moves:

* The new certified hire of Becky Coats, 5th grade teacher at Longfellow Elementary, $59,400, effective 2023-24 school year.

* The classified hires of Annette Kroger, data support specialist, $19.50 per hour, 8 hours daily, effective May 30; Elizabeth Martin, administrative assistant at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary, $17 per hour, 7 hours daily, effective Aug. 2; Mary Eliason, librarian at Mitchell High School, $17 per hour, 7.5 hours daily, effective Aug. 9 and Seth Paulson, head boys soccer, $2,985, effective 2023-24 school year.

* The transfers of Mackenzie Elias, 5th teacher at Longfellow Elementary to 5th teacher at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary and Laura Starr, paraeducator at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary, 7 hours daily to CCC/computer aide at Gertie Belle Rogers, 7.25 hours daily. Both transfers effective for the 2023-24 school year.

* The reduction in hours of Jeanette Uher, paraeducator at Mitchell High School, 7.25 hours daily to 5 hours daily, effective 2023-24 school year.

* The resignation of Erin Fowkes, counselor at Mitchell High School, effective end of the 2022-23 school year.

* The following Mitchell Technical College 2023 adjunct instructors: Ashley Alarcon, RAD 156 — intro to CT, $1,500; Sarah Ellis, COMM 210, interpersonal communications and SPCM 101 — speech fundamentals, $4,500; Julie Gross, ENGL 110 — workplace communications, $2,250; Julie Hart Schutte, SOC 100 — introduction to sociology, $2,250; Anne Kelly, PSYC 101 — general psychology, $2,250; Nathaniel Raak, MATH 103, mathematical reasoning, $2,250; Annike Russell-Manke, ACCT 221 — Quickbooks and BUS 122 — e-commerce, $4,500; Ryan Van Zee, BUS 170 — entrepreneurship small business management, $2,250 and Shirlyce Weisser, MOP 212 — electronic records and MOP 230 — medical office administration, $4,500. All are effective for the summer of 2023.

* The following Mitchell Technical College 2023 internship instructors: Jim Mahoney, BC 290 — commercial internship, $3,750; Tim Goldammer, DPT 290 — internship, $1,500; Izaak Goldammer, DPT 290 — internship, $1,250; Joel Rassel, DPT 290 — internship, $1,500; Matt Moore, IST 290 — internship, $1,000; Lynne Smith, MLT 234 — practical clinical chemistry, $2,000; Chris Degen, OPRV 190 — internship, $1,750 and Mike Benjamin, WBT 290 — internship, $2,250. All are effective for the summer of 2023.

* The following Mitchell Technical College instructors: Devyn Killion, culinary instructor, $48,500; Dale Mesman, CDL instructor, $62,000; Jason Von Eye, ag technology instructor, $66,500 and Jordan Von Eye, accounting/business management instructor, $62,000. All are effective Aug. 1.

Also at the meeting, the board:

* Canvassed and certified the June 6, 2023 Mitchell Board of Election results and bond measure.

* Reviewed the district Elementary Handbook for the 2023-24 school year.

* Set meal prices for the 2023-24 school year. Meal prices will remain unchanged from last year, with regular breakfast rates at $1.85 for elementary students, $2 for Mitchell Middle School and Mitchell High School students and $3 for adults. Reduced breakfast prices will be 30 cents. For lunch, regular rates at $2.80 for elementary and $3 for Mitchell Middle School and Mitchell High School students and $5 for adults. Reduced lunch rates will be 40 cents. The price of milk will increase from 40 cents to 50 cents, however.

* Increased clerical FTE.

* Approved bids for Mitchell Technical College vehicles.

* Declared items as surplus.

* Heard public commentary.

The next meeting of the Mitchell Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, June 26 at the Mitchell Career & Technical Education Academy.