The Elmore County Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to accept a bid from Information Transport Solutions (ITS) Inc. of Wetumpka for services related to information technology systems throughout the Elmore County school system.
ITS, the sole bidder on the Elmore County contract, will provide WAN (wide area network) internet access, voice-over internet protocol services to include paging, alerting, POTS, emergency and fax lines, web hosting and content filtering. The total of the contract is $914,282 plus a one-time installation cost of $30,275.
Barbara Burchard, chief technology officer for Elmore County Schools, said that, should state and federal technology monies intended for schools (largely E-rate funding) be allocated by Congress and the Alabama Legislature as expected, the discounted cost of the services to the schools would be $334,682 plus $30,275 for alerts that would not be covered.
“We expect that we will get the federal and state E-rate monies,” Burchard said. “That would leave us with $364,957 in out-of-pocket costs.”
Burchard pointed out that the government funding would also pay the match required to draw down funding for 144 miles of lit fiber for the system, which has chosen to run its own fiber rather than paying a contractor.
In other action, the board voted unanimously to approve contracts with Stallings and Son Contractors of Montgomery and Correct Cut, LLC, of Eclectic for the demolition of visitor-side bleachers Holtville High School and Elmore County High School (Eclectic) football fields. Stallings and Son will be paid $15,610 for the work at Holtville while Correct Cut will earn $12,500 for the work in Eclectic.
The board also approved without dissent a contract with Outdoor Aluminum of Geneva for replace of the visitors’ bleachers at Holtville and Eclectic at a total cost of $320,000.
According to Bruce Christian, project coordinator for the board, Outdoor Aluminum’s contract requires that its work be completed by Aug. 1, in time for use in the 2016 high school football season.
“If it’s not completed by then, that’s going to put me between a rock and a hard place,” said Christian, drawing chuckles from the board.
Christian also said that each contract for demolition of the bleachers required that the winning bidders haul off and properly dispose of the old bleachers.
In other action, the board:
• Voted unanimously to extend a bid agreement with Busworx/Blue Bird of Birmingham for the purchase of eight 2017 84-passenger buses. The cost of each bus will be $93,374 and the total cost will be $746,992.
• Voted unanimously to approve contracts with Stallings and Son Contractors of Montgomery and Correct Cut, LLC, of Eclectic for the demolition of visitor-side bleachers at the football fields of Holtville and Elmore County high schools.
• Approved several personnel actions.
• Recognized Seth Aude, a student at Redland Elementary School, for winning the Seventh Annual National Geographic geography bee.
The board met at Eclectic Elementary School and, prior to the business meeting, enjoyed a selection of Alabama-themed songs from the fourth-grade music class of Will Reese.
The next scheduled meeting of the board is Monday, April 18 at 4:30 in the Elmore County Board of Education Board Room.
