Fort Thomas board approves Tower Park change order, $926,778 pay application and submits district facilities plan draft to KDE; authorizes tech surpluses

At its meeting, the Fort Thomas Independent Board of Education approved a $38,570.70 change order and a $926,778.15 pay application for work at the Highlands Athletic Complex at Tower Park, voted to submit a second draft of the district facilities plan (DFP) to the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and appointed Jerry Wissman as hearing officer, and authorized surplus and bid plans for district technology and other equipment.

The board approved change order number 3—a collection of previously reviewed change proposals—adding $38,570.70 to the Morrell Construction Company contract for the Tower Park project. The board also approved pay application No. 9 to Morrell Construction for $926,778.15. Both motions were seconded and carried by voice vote.

The district presented a second draft of its DFP for board approval to send to KDE. District staff described priority 1 recommendations that include constructing a career and technical center (CTC) to serve existing career pathways, roof and kitchen renovations at Highlands High School, limited classroom additions at Woodfill Elementary (up to four standard classrooms), and improved ADA access at the high school, including a possible elevator column on the south building. Staff said KDE reviewers suggested several refinements and offered creative options—such as addressing an aging plaza over a parking garage at the middle school under later priorities—that raised the district’s unmet need to a little over $30 million.

Jerry Wissman was named the public hearing officer; staff said KDE requires a public hearing before final DFP approval. "Once you had the opportunity to ask questions and vote on recommending that, we have to appoint a hearing officer because KDE requires a public hearing," staff said.

On technology, the board authorized declaring surplus 1,650 MacBook Air M1 (2020, model A2337) units and 1,275 iPad 8th-generation devices, and directed staff to solicit bids for the lot. Technology staff said the district will refresh student iPads and MacBooks this summer to obtain expanded storage, four-year warranties and lower repair costs; staff intends to retain some returned devices as loaners and put the remainder out to bid. "Putting them all out together should ensure that we would get more opportunities for bids," Mr. Johnson said, adding that the RFP would require bidders to remove devices from Apple School Manager, remove asset tags and collect equipment on-site.

The board also approved declaring other operations items—classroom furniture, cafeteria equipment, sewing machines and assorted fixtures—as surplus and authorized sale or disposal, noting the items have been in storage and some sit idle after program changes.

Other votes included board approval to continue an employee wellness incentive (district-paid registration and T-shirts for employee participation in the YMCA Firecracker 5K) and approval of a requested shortened-school-day waiver for one student after an Admissions and Release Committee review. The meeting concluded with unanimous approval of the consent agenda.

Next steps for the DFP include a public hearing scheduled before the next board meeting, final board action and then KDE review; surplus technology will go to bid per the district’s procurement process.