Committee grants Conway School District waiver to exceed cooperative purchasing cap for school renovation

Conway Public Schools asked the Judiciary Committee — House for permission to exceed the cooperative purchasing aggregate amount for construction services under Arkansas Code Annotated § 19-11-249(D) and the committee approved the waiver request.

Doctor Jeff Collum, superintendent of Conway Public Schools, and Shasta D. Wagner, chief legal officer for Conway Public Schools, appeared before the committee to explain the request. Wagner said the request is to "exceed the cooperative purchasing for construction services aggregate amount in accordance with Arkansas Code Annotated 19 11 2 49, D" to renovate the Bob and Betty Courtway (as named in the district’s filing) school. The district said it plans to begin work as soon as students leave in May and finish before they return in August to reduce classroom disruption.

Superintendent Collum told the committee the district’s maintenance team will provide materials and labor where possible to reduce costs and that local vendors will be used for the project. "In my four years there, our maintenance team has done an incredible job, trying to pick up the labor parts and our labor actions as much as possible," Collum said. He added the project has already been delayed a full year.

Representative Evans commended the district for following the required process and for using local vendors. The committee moved, seconded and approved the waiver request by voice vote; the transcript records "Ayes have it. Motion carries." No roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript.

The waiver was granted under the cited code provision; no dollar amounts were read into the record during the committee discussion.