Bid OK’d for school construction

M.D. Descant of Bunkie won the bidding to build a 10-classroom building and a cafeteria at Leonville Elementary.
Architect Don D’Avy recommended the bid to the St. Landry Parish School Board’s Building, Lands and sites Committee meeting Monday.
The committee approved the bid, which will go before the full board on Dec. 3.
A second-phase of work is planned for eight classrooms.
D’Avy said the work approved Monday is expected to take eight months.
The low bid from M.D. Descant is $60,570 — 2.3 percent — more than the estimate of $2,472,430. That leaves $180,510 for possible change orders, he said.
The work is part of about $10 million planned by the school system. Besides the Leonville project, the board has approved repairing leaky roofs and replacing portable classrooms with permanent classrooms.
Details on the roof work and classrooms have not been discussed in public.
The other bids for the 10 classrooms and cafeteria at Leonville Elementary were: Triad Construction Services of Youngsville, $2,546,000; Skip Converse of Pineville, $2,854,000; E.L. Habetz Builders of Crowley, $2,864,200; Fruge Lumber Co. of Eunice, $2,993,000; and Garden city Construction Co. of Lafayette, $3,200,000.
In the board’s Executive Committee:
The student suspension policy was reviewed with a change that allows principals under the direction of the superintendent to allow suspensions to extend the next school year.
Annual leave accumulation for 12-month employees hired after Jan. 1, 2016, is capped at 25 days versus 40 days previously allowed. Current employee retain the 40-day cap.
The committee did not take action on a new evaluation tool for the Superintendent Edward Brown. The existing evaluation form will be used for the evaluation scheduled in December.
During the Finance Committee, Eunice board member Albert Hayes Jr. urged the board to raise substitute teacher pay to at least match the $65 a day substitute bus divers are paid.
Matt Scruggins, supervisor of personnel, said the minimum pay for a substitute is $55 day and the maximum is $70 if the person is a certified teacher or has master’s degree.
Hazel Sias, an Opelousas area board member, said substitutes spend seven hours in the classroom while a bus driver spends about four hours driving a bus.