Herricks ed board OKs 1st $1.5M bid for construction

The Island Now
From left: Christopher Connors, the Herricks school district's technology coordinator, and David Pickman, district technology integration specialist, present proposed technology upgrades to the school board last Thursday. (Photo by Samuel Glasser)

By Samuel Glasser

The Herricks school board accepted a $1.5 million bid last Thursday for the first phase of construction under the district’s $29.5 million capital improvement plan.

The LandTek Group of Amityville will install the new synthetic turf field at Herricks High School, along with a new scoreboard and safety netting, new coating and striping for the track and other improvements.

The board expects construction to begin in early October and run to February 2018. The work is being largely funded by a $25 million bond issue approved by the voters in December.

The base bid for the new turf came in below the budgeted amount, so the district was able to add some other improvements, Lisa Rutkoske, the assistant superintendent for business, said.

“We were thrilled with the bid opening,” Rutkoske said.

The district’s architect, Steven P. Walsh of BBS Architecture, said that projects for the second phase of work that were submitted to the state Education Department in June are still “in the queue” for approval.

The second-phase renovations at the high school include a new cafeteria; new 1,600-seat bleachers, press box and comfort station for the athletic field; a sports storage building; and lighting for the track.

Walsh presented several options for the configuration of the bleachers and said that the timeline called for construction to be done during the summer of 2018.

That schedule would depend on timely state approval and a successful bidding process. Rutkoske said she hoped that the state approvals would be in hand by January or February.

Plans for the balance of the work in phase two will be submitted to the state in the fall. These projects include renovation of the concession stand and electrical upgrades at the high school and improvements to the ventilation systems, site drainage, asphalt and sidewalks at all schools.

The board also rejected bids for a window replacements at the high school last Thursday because they came in over budget. This is a separate project that is not part of the 2016 capital improvement bond, officials said. The project will be put out for bids again.

The board also heard a presentation on plans for technology upgrades that would be funded by the district’s $967,000 share of the state’s $2 billion SMART Schools Bond Act of 2014.

David Pickman, the district’s technology integration specialist, said the work will focus on infrastructure upgrades.

Officials have seen “a huge increase” in the use and population of mobile devices in the district, Pickman said. The internet access points in the district’s buildings were installed before the increased academic need for technology and are no longer sufficient to support the many devices in the schools.

Each access point can work for about 30 devices, Pickman said. As the number of devices exceeds this amount, the quality and speed of the internet connection falls off.

“We are at end-of-life” on the existing network, which is now about seven years old, he said.

The mobile technologies allow teachers to bring equipment into the classroom as it is needed, he said, so the wireless capability has to be upgraded.

Under the legislation authorizing the bond issue, school districts must submit a SMART Schools Investment Plan to the state for review. The district’s goal is to submit plans in September and begin the work in the summer of 2018.

Rutkoske said the work would be done in phases since the district has to lay out the money and then apply to the state for reimbursement.

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