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Cedar Springs board approves $287,600 contract to replace high school PA, clocks and emergency displays
Summary
The Cedar Springs Public Schools Board approved a contract to replace the high school public-address and clock system, selecting ParkwayCarehawk after an RFP that returned four bids. The project will be paid from state school safety and mental health funds.
The Cedar Springs Public Schools Board of Education voted Tuesday to award a contract to replace the high school public-address (PA) and clock system and add visual emergency displays throughout the building.
Board members approved the contract after hearing operations staff describe repeated outages, incomplete coverage in bathrooms and stairwells, and the district's need for zoned announcements during testing and emergencies. The board approved the recommendation to accept Parkway's proposal, using a Carehawk solution, with adjustments for additional wiring and speakers that bring the recommended total to roughly $287,613.
District operations staff told the board the existing system has frequent failures and wiring problems that make repairs recurring and unreliable. Staff said many classroom devices will be fully replaced to allow dynamic visual messaging and emergency notifications, while some hallway speakers will be reused and run on new wiring to balance coverage and cost. The recommended vendor was the lowest of four respondents to the district's RFP: AMCOL, BOSS, Electromedia and Parkway. Parkway's base bid of about $266,463 plus district-requested adjustments for bathroom and stairwell coverage and zoning added about $21,150.
The district said the project does not include recurring vendor subscription fees that other proposals carried; staff flagged that recurring annual subscriptions for life-safety systems could create future operational risk. Installation is planned for the summer if the board's action is approved.
Funding and legal context
Board members asked about funding and were told the purchase will be paid from state Section 31aa funds designated for school safety and mental health. The district said it had been awarded $340,000 and had earmarked roughly $300,000 for the high school PA project, so the recommended contract is within the district's awarded amount.
Votes and next steps
A motion to accept the district's recommendation passed by roll call (Yes: Vice President Schaffner; Secretary Slager; Treasurer Gilmore; Trustee Patton; Trustee Bowser; President Reid. No: Trustee Lund). Staff said installation would take place during the summer and that further scheduling details would be provided to the board.
