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Catawba County Board of Education approves contracts, calendars and policy updates; names media center for Leslie Barnett
Summary
The board on Oct. 27 approved routine consent items, awarded facility contracts and change orders, endorsed the Challenger Early College calendar, updated policies to align with state law, and accepted recommendations to rename a school facility and dedicate a media center to Dr. Leslie Barnett.
The Catawba County Board of Education on Oct. 27 approved a series of routine but time-sensitive items, including construction contracts, change orders and a cooperative-purchase contract for a central school freezer.
At the meeting, Dr. Matthew Stover, superintendent, asked the board to approve consent items 1–6 and a slate of operational recommendations. The board approved the consent agenda by voice/hand raise. The board also approved the majority of 2025–26 school improvement plans presented in the morning work session while deferring five school plans (Murray, Oxford, St. Stephen’s Elementary, Riverman Middle and Mill Creek Middle) for presentation and approval in November.
The board approved awarding a roofing contract for the transportation storage building to low bidder Conover Construction for $69,930. Steven Westmoreland of the district’s construction and maintenance department said the roof will use DuroTuff PVC material, carry a two-year contractor warranty and a 20-year product warranty, and that the contractor is already mobilized.
Board members approved final change-order and directive actions on two modular-classroom projects. For Boss Creek Elementary, Westmoreland said the original contract was $206,945 and, after credits of $26,369.57, the final contract amount is reported in the meeting as $180,575.43. For Saint Stephen’s Elementary, the presentation described location and light-pole work that produced credits and overages charged to contingency; the transcript reports a final contract figure of $243,837.33 after credits.
Child Nutrition staff presented a recommendation to replace an inoperable central freezer under the TIPS USA cooperative-purchasing contract with Curlin Way for $106,664.51. Westmoreland said the contractor will provide a one-year parts-and-labor warranty and estimated an eight-week completion time to ensure space is available for a large food shipment in January. The board approved that contract by motion.
The board also approved the 2026–27 calendar for Challenger Early College High School, which includes a July 29 teacher workday, a May 25 last day, and an every-other-Friday virtual schedule to align with Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) closures.
Finally, the board approved amendments to board policies (listed in the meeting packet as A.3, 3.632 and 4.206) to align with recent state statutory changes, accepted a reduced schedule of school visits to allow longer on-site time, approved personnel recommendations, and set a nomination-and-ballot procedure to fill an unexpired board vacancy with the nomination process to occur at the Nov. 24 meeting and final selection in December.
The meeting ended after the board moved to adjourn.
