Board approves playground equipment and classroom furniture bids for two restart schools

Board members approved two procurement items forwarded by the district’s restart program: a PlayWorld Preferred playground order for Oak Road Academy and a Demco classroom and lab furniture order for West Craven Middle School. Restart program staff said each project was split into phases; as reconciliations of lapsed salary funds were completed the schools were able to move to phase two, but pairing the phase‑one and phase‑two purchases pushed each vendor total over the district’s $90,000 threshold, so the purchases were brought to the board for approval.

Oak Road Academy: Restart coordinator Miss Gatchel told trustees Oak Road replaced an aging playground structure in an initial $90,000 phase and planned to add swing sets in a follow‑on phase. Combined with the first order, the swing sets would push the vendor total above $90,000; the playground structure already was ordered and was being assembled. West Craven Middle School: staff presented a Demco order to replace older classroom and lab furniture (including tall lab tables and stools) to align multiple classrooms and improve behavior management; the second phase added furniture for additional rooms and also pushed the vendor total over the $90,000 threshold.

The board voted to approve the two bids, described in staff documents as totaling $121,598.11 for PlayWorld Preferred and $109,311.38 for Demco. Miss Gatchel said the Oak Road replacement was intended to reduce nurse referrals and behavior incidents tied to the old equipment. Trustees asked whether the playgrounds include inclusive features; restart staff said the equipment met district safety specifications and was intended as like‑for‑like replacements.