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Board approves HVAC, restroom and building‑assessment contracts and several facility uses and MOU
Summary
Trustees approved multiple capital contracts and facility‑use items at the April 10 meeting, including HVAC and restroom bids for East Chicago Central High School, an architectural engineering contract, a districtwide facilities assessment and a memorandum of understanding to support facility rentals.
The School City of East Chicago Board of Trustees approved a package of facility projects, vendor contracts and facility‑use agreements at its April 10, 2025, meeting, including bids to repair Central High School systems and a districtwide building assessment intended to guide multi‑year planning.
Key approvals included: - Award of a bid to Panjir (Panji?r/Angier in transcript) Corporation for restroom renovation work at East Chicago Central High School. - Approval of Valdez Architectural Engineering to provide HVAC design and air‑handler work at Central High School. - Approval of Whitman Architecture & Engineering to perform a comprehensive facilities assessment across district buildings; the assessment will identify needs and support a five‑to‑ten‑year capital plan. - Approval of MOU and a rental‑management app to centralize facility rental paperwork and payments for district properties. - Approvals of parking‑lot use for East Chicago Parks and Recreation events and approvals of several special‑event facility uses, including the district’s hosting of the autism walk in the event of inclement weather. - Approval of technology restructuring items and continued technology staffing as presented.
Most motions were moved and seconded by trustees and passed on recorded roll calls. For example, the contract award for Valdez Architectural Engineering (item 6.06) passed with the recorded votes shown in the meeting roll call. The board also approved Panjir Corporation (item 6.05), Whitman (item 6.08) and the MOU (item 6.04) after staff described the scope and minor edits to governing‑law and renewal language that counsel said would be added before final execution.
Why it matters: The district said these steps will allow summer work at Central High School — including bathroom restoration, HVAC and chiller replacements — and will move the district from piecemeal repairs to a longer‑range capital plan based on a full assessment. District staff said they intend to start work as soon as next week and to perform construction over the summer where possible.
Votes at a glance (selected items recorded in the meeting): - Item 6.02 (contract/agreement with Central Technical Education partner): approved (roll calls recorded as unanimous yes votes by available trustees). - Item 6.03 (East Chicago Parks and Recreation use of parking lot): approved, roll call recorded yes votes. - Item 6.04 (Memorandum of Understanding for rental app): approved after counsel noted edits to term and governing‑law language. - Item 6.05 (Panjir Corporation restroom bid): approved (motion by Trustee Rodriguez; second by Trustee Gomez; roll call recorded yes votes). - Item 6.06 (Valdez Architectural Engineering, HVAC work): approved (motion by Trustee Smith; second by Trustee Rodriguez; recorded roll call yes votes). - Item 6.08 (Whitman Architecture & Engineering facilities assessment): approved (motion by Trustee Smith; second by Trustee Rodriguez; recorded roll call yes votes). - Item 6.09 (use of Carrie Gosch gym/hallways for autism walk in case of rain): approved; public speakers noted the event’s size and cross‑community participation. - Items 6.11–6.12 (technology restructure and continued technology technician): approved on roll calls.
Public comment and staff notes: CFO Leah Simmons briefed the board on the Central High School HVAC bid and said work would begin as soon as next week, with additional summer projects to restore bathrooms and common areas. Counsel told the board a final MOU will include language that prevents automatic renewal without mutual written agreement and will specify that disputes would be governed by Indiana law and the Lake County Superior Court.
Ending: Board members said the summer will be busy with construction and that the facilities assessment will guide the district’s priorities for multi‑year capital planning.
