Board approves consent agenda including Bear Hill change orders and phone‑system upgrade; president recuses from one personnel item

At its Jan. 5 meeting the Tredyffrin‑Easttown School District Board of Education approved the consent agenda after a motion and second; the presiding officer announced a recusal from one consent item because it named a family member.

The president announced a recusal from consent-agenda item 7(c)(1) (a routine personnel appointment) because that item included the president's niece; the president said they would vote on all other consent items and would not vote on that portion. The board then approved the consent agenda by voice vote as called by the presiding officer.

Facilities Committee Vice President Mister Hong reviewed status and recommended consent-agenda placement for several construction-related items. The athletic-field components (turf, track, tennis courts and bleachers) were reported as installed and completed, with practice and softball fields and related site work still in progress. The committee recommended two Bear Hill Elementary change orders be placed on the consent agenda: a water-service change order of $16,612.77 and stormwater/drainage related change orders totaling $227,492.28 that arose from unforeseen conditions discovered during redevelopment of the existing building.

The committee also recommended placing a phone-system upgrade on the consent agenda. The presentation reported a mini upgrade (using existing handsets but upgrading components and infrastructure) at a total cost reported as $352,163.83; the facilities committee recommended that item for consent.

Those construction and procurement items were presented as recommended for consent; the board included them on the consent agenda and the board approved the consent package. The facilities committee noted project photos and video are available on the district website for public review.

Public comment during the consent-agenda comment period included a resident request that the district consider switching to a four-payment tax schedule (July–October) rather than three payments, to ease household cash-flow. The board suggested submitting the idea to the finance committee for fuller review.

Outcome: consent agenda approved; recusal recorded for one personnel appointment; recommended change orders and the phone-system upgrade were placed on and approved via the consent agenda.