Board hears multiple operations contracts and bids; custodial contract, classroom addition and nutrition cooperative set for April 21 vote

District staff brought several operations and procurement items to the April 2025 board meeting for discussion and placement on the April 21 approval agenda.

South Douglas classroom addition: Staff recommended entering into a contract with Gilbane Construction Company as construction manager for the South Douglas Elementary classroom addition. The board packet described an RFP process; if the board approves Gilbane, the company will work with architect GMC and the district to establish a guaranteed maximum price (GMP), and the GMP will return to the board for approval. The funding source for the project was not specified in the discussion and will be presented with the GMP.

Custodial services (Cluster 4): Staff recommended awarding the custodial contract for Cluster 4 (Sweetwater Elementary School and Factory Shoals Middle School) to American Facility Services. The annual contract cost quoted in the presentation was $527,639.84 and the funding source specified was general funds. Presenters said the cluster had experienced persistent staffing and performance issues under the prior arrangement; to address that, the district excluded the two problematic sites from the incumbent vendor’s coverage and put a new contract in place for those two schools. A board member asked whether the turnover causes had been identified; staff said the pattern predated recent leadership and they could not point to a single cause.

Georgia Education Cooperative (GEC) renewal: Danielle Freeman, executive director for school nutrition, presented a bid renewal for the Georgia Education Cooperative, a purchasing cooperative the district joins annually to obtain discounted prices on food and other nutrition supplies. The estimated annual spend cited was approximately $2,977,120.55 and the contract would be paid from school nutrition funds. Freeman said cooperative purchasing produced per‑case savings that vary by item and offered to provide a summary of savings by category on request.

Warehouse and other surplus: Staff also presented warehouse surplus and other smaller procurement/renewal items; each is on the agenda for April 21 approval.

Why it matters: these procurement choices affect project timelines, vendor performance, school cleanliness and nutrition costs. Several items included dollar amounts requiring appropriation or use of specified fund sources; the board will take final action on April 21.