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Board hears urgent update on high school roof, directs staff to seek bids
Summary
Board members were told the high school roof has ongoing leaks and limited contractor availability; after discussion the board directed the district's construction manager to solicit competitive bids.
The Ozark R-VI School District board of education heard a detailed update on the high school roof and the district's bidding timeline, and directed staff to proceed with soliciting competitive bids.
District staff said the south roof project is essentially finished but the high school roof has leaked “like a sieve for several years,” and two small rooms now need floor tile removed because of recent water damage. Staff explained that because the district waited late last year to go to bid, many large roofing firms were already scheduled for the summer, which narrowed the pool of qualified contractors and contributed to problems with the vendor the district used for a smaller project.
Superintendent (unnamed) and operations staff told the board that if bidding is not released promptly they would not realistically receive bids until the board's February or March meetings, which would further compress the schedule and limit contractor availability. Staff said an earlier internal estimate was presented to the board and that going to competitive bid historically reduces the cost by roughly 10 percent compared with noncompetitive procurement.
Board members pressed staff on why bids were not released earlier. One board member said they had understood the board had deferred the project to get additional information; others said they had believed the board had effectively approved moving forward. During the discussion members repeatedly expressed concern about the speed of action given ongoing leaks and recent interior damage.
After the discussion a motion was made to release the district's construction manager to advertise and solicit bids for roof repair using bond proceeds if needed. The motion was seconded and approved.
District staff said they will solicit bids from major regional roofing firms and aim to have qualified bids before the primary spring construction window. Board members said they will review financing options, including whether to use remaining bond proceeds or another funding source, at an upcoming work session.
Ending: The board set a work session in early February to review financing and project prioritization; staff will return with bid documents and a recommended procurement timetable.
