Brockton subcommittee recommends awards for six FY2025 school contracts, including Davis School basketball court

Brockton Public Schools' bid review subcommittee on May 27 recommended awarding six FY2025 contracts, approving bids for a Davis School basketball court, on-call electrician and plumber services, pest control, refrigeration/air-conditioning maintenance, and district fire-alarm service.

The action affects facilities and routine operations across the district and sets standard terms for several on-call service contracts. Committee members pressed staff for clearer bid summaries, greater transparency about rejected bids and a record of bidders who fail to submit required paperwork.

Ken Thompson, director of operations for Brockton Public Schools, presented the recorded results of the public bid openings and led the discussion of each line item. For bid 2025600, Thompson said the district received one qualified bid of $68,500 to install the hot-top portion of a new basketball court at Davis School; the figure covers materials and labor and is a one-time construction cost. Thompson said the project replaces an old tennis court and that the district’s DPW removed the existing surface to reduce costs. He said the grounds crew will install hoops and lines and that fencing will be bid separately. Thompson described the paved area as roughly 20,500 square feet; another committee member later referenced a 40,000-square-foot figure during the discussion. The subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend awarding bid 2025600.

Members asked for more project detail up front for future packets. “Maybe moving forward, when we get the — if we could just get a small summary of this is what it entails, the size of the court…what’s included,” the committee chair requested during the meeting.

The committee approved several on-call service contracts that use a 100-hour basis for award calculations but do not guarantee any hours. For bid 2025603 (On-Call Electrician) the committee approved the contract with an initial term amount calculated at $21,000; Thompson said the district is not obligated to spend that amount and that existing district electricians will not be displaced. Committee members noted the arrangement is intended as a safety net for emergencies.

Bid 2025604 (On-Call Plumber) was approved for Patrick Kennedy and Sons Inc. at an initial term amount of $21,000. Thompson said on-call contractors are contractually required to respond within 24 hours for routine service calls and within two hours for emergencies.

For pest control (bid 2025606), the committee approved the low bid of $19,000 and the motion named Burgess Pest Management as the award; earlier in the presentation Thompson referred to the district’s current contractor with a different pronunciation/spelling, which the committee noted as an inconsistency to be clarified in the paperwork.

Bid 2025601 for refrigeration and air-conditioning maintenance drew three bids; the subcommittee recommended awarding the contract to CAMHVAC for $20,949.95. Thompson said these contracts are labor-focused; if a contractor purchases materials at the district’s request, the contract allows a 10% markup with vendor receipts.

For fire-alarm service (bid 2025605) the committee recommended awarding the work to American Service Company, the district’s current provider, for $24,100. As with other on-call contracts, Thompson said the bid basis uses a 100-hour multiplication to produce an award amount but does not obligate the district to a fixed number of hours.

Committee members asked staff to provide additional transparency items in future bid packets, including (1) a brief one-page summary of the scope (size, what is included), (2) a list of bidders who submitted incomplete or noncompliant packets and the reason for rejection, and (3) notice when a member of the subcommittee can attend a public bid opening. Thompson agreed to provide a schedule and additional packet details for upcoming bids.

The subcommittee also noted two rejected bids in the record: one refrigeration bid (Advanced Air and Hit Company Inc.) was rejected because it was submitted by email before the opening rather than as a hard copy or mailed submission; Thompson also said Joyce Azek’s submission was rejected for incomplete paperwork. Members asked staff to include these rejections and reasons in future reports so losing bidders understand why their packets failed.

The subcommittee voted unanimously on all motions listed at the meeting and then adjourned. Thompson said he would provide notice of the next group of bids within one to two weeks.