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Board gives tentative approval to accelerate Chapel Elementary furniture purchase to avoid tariffs
Summary
The board authorized a tentative commitment to buy furniture for Chapel District Elementary using a Mid Atlantic Purchasing Team cooperative contract, asking staff to confirm the final quote is at or below budget before formal approval at the June meeting; members debated storage, timing and budget transparency.
Board members authorized a tentative, conditional commitment to accelerate purchase of furniture for the Chapel District Elementary renovation to avoid an imminent tariff increase. The procurement team proposed using a cooperative purchasing contract (Mid Atlantic Purchasing Team) and said the supplier had guaranteed delivery for Phase 1 and 2 if the order is placed promptly.
Mr. Schaeffer, who led the presentation, described the procurement timeline and the risk posed by a tariff increase noted to take effect July 1. He said the project team has a ‘‘95% complete quote’’ and asked to ‘‘informally gauge consensus’’ this week so the administration could issue a purchase order to secure pricing, with formal board approval to follow at the June meeting. He said the supplier (named in the discussion as Doron Incorporated) would provide limited free storage and deliver and install Phase 1 and 2 furniture in the first week of August; Phase 3 storage and costs would be clarified in the final quote.
Board members asked how the cooperative contract was procured, whether the district knew the budgeted amount, whether storage fees could be negotiated into the contract price and whether furniture installed early could be damaged during remaining construction. Staff said the MAPT contract follows competitive bid procedures and many districts use it, that they would share the budget target with the board when finalizing the quote and that the supplier guaranteed delivery timing.
On motion, the board approved a tentative purchase for phases 1–3 ‘‘subject to the cost being at or below the budget number’’ as communicated to board members, with final approval to occur at the next open meeting. The motion was amended on the floor to explicitly include all three phases and passed with an aye vote count recorded; exact tallies by name were not read into the record.
Administration said it will circulate the final quote to board members via email, include storage-cost detail and note any instances where the final price would exceed budget so the board can take final action in open session in June.
