The Blair Oaks Board of Education has approved a general contractor for construction of the district's new high school.
The board approved Curtiss-Manes-Schulte as the general contractor during Tuesday's meeting. This week, The Architects Alliance will complete a contract agreement and send it to Superintendent Jim Jones and the contractor for review.
The board also reviewed and approved the issuance and sale of $5 million no-tax increase general obligation bonds in 2020 for the new high school. The projected closing date is April 9. There will be about $16.2 million left for construction, said Assistant Vice President Neil Branham of L.J. Hart & Company, who prepared the plan.
Jones said he plans for construction to be done by August 2021 and for the high school to be open for the 2021-22 school year. Once the high school opens, the elementary school will have students in kindergarten to second grade, the middle school will have students in third through fifth grades, and the current high school building will house sixth- through eighth-grade students.
The current elementary school houses kindergarten through fourth grade, the middle school fifth through eighth grades, and the high school ninth through 12th grades.
The board also reviewed considerations for a student transportation contract extension. Current bus contractors D&K Bus Service and Durham School Services presented to the board. They have been the contractors for at least 21 years, Jones said.
The board will wait until next month to make a decision.
The presenter for Durham School Services said the company focuses on safety. The buses have cameras that send videos when there is a gravitational force. It also tracks and reports timeliness of the driver and safety elements such as speed limit.
D&K said the company would give three to five older buses to Blair Oaks for free through a Volkswagen trust fund, and D&K would also pay maintenance costs. The application deadline for D&K is March 31. Jones and board members said the deadline is too short. Jones also said he is concerned about legal work and potential costs to the district.