Round Lake Area board approves rooftop HVAC replacement, transportation software and several contracts; student ID fee to rise

The Round Lake Area School District Board of Education on March 10 approved a series of contracts and budget items, including a $328,000 rooftop HVAC replacement at Raymond Ellis Elementary School and a $181,429 purchase of Traversa (Tyler Technologies Inc.) transportation software and services.

Those approvals came during a single business session in which the board also approved its consent agenda, accepted accounts payable of $1,395,444.34, authorized a small sports-complex agreement for allied soccer, accepted an E-rate Internet-services renewal with Comcast, and adopted the district's FY26 student fee schedule that raises the student ID charge from $1 to $3 to cover a new RFID/chip-enabled card.

The rooftop unit replacement was awarded to the lowest bidder, MG Mechanical Contracting Inc., in the amount of $328,000. Board members described the unit at Ellis Elementary as "in dire need" of replacement and agreed to fund the project using district reserves; the motion passed on a roll-call vote.

The board voted to contract with Tyler Technologies, Inc., for the Traversa transportation package, a move administrators said will add routing software, a parent app and GPS on buses. The professional services and installation agreement for Traversa was approved for $181,429. The transportation purchase and related device-cost questions were vetted by the finance committee; board members asked staff to clarify…