Board approves hurricane-repair contracts and HVAC replacement plans

The Lafourche Parish School Board approved a series of land and facilities committee recommendations that will move several hurricane-recovery and facility projects into the procurement and design stages.

On the consent agenda the board approved: a $30,001.67 change order request for Saint Charles Elementary; authorization of a temporary road access agreement for Raceland Court Section 16; hiring DDG to perform hurricane repair work (estimated OPC $389,125.71 funded by FEMA); and awarding a low bid to FCA Construction LLC (base bid $728,710) for roof repairs and demolition at Golden Meadow Lower Elementary and South Lafourche High School.

During discussion of the Golden Meadow Middle School buildings 4, 5 and 10, staff explained the work covers roof and gym repairs and precedes larger rebuilding work; some gym upgrades (notably a new maple floor) are not FEMA-eligible and would require district construction funding. The board approved accepting a new low bidder for the project after previous contractor complications.

The board also considered a recommended hire for replacement of stand-up HVAC units at Cut Off Elementary with an estimated total project OPC of $1,050,000. The vendor described a phased schedule (initial wing work in 3–4 weeks, remainder in an additional 2–5 weeks), a procurement timeline that includes committee review in January and anticipated approval in February, and equipment lead times of roughly 8–10 weeks. Staff and members discussed interim measures — dehumidifiers, air scrubbers and temporary pressurization — to address condensation and moisture until replacements are installed. The transcript references an approximate contingency of $50,000 within the OPC estimate.

All listed facility motions were approved by the board during the meeting; most votes were recorded as "motion carries" or adopted by consent without individual roll-call tallies in the transcript.