Lakeland board approves school‑safety review and awards cabling contracts for bond projects

The Lakeland School Corporation board on Monday approved a contract with a school‑safety consulting group to begin building walk‑throughs and master planning and separately authorized two cabling contracts to advance bond construction work.

Dr. Blaze, who presented the report on district operations and bond work, said the safety review is “part of our bond projects” and will inform long‑range master planning for facilities. Board members confirmed the district will pay project costs from bond proceeds.

On technology infrastructure, staff described three proposals related to internal fiber, internal cabling for relocated closets, and an outside fiber run to an agricultural “egg barn.” The administration recommended Sitewise for internal cabling and Teladata for outside fiber plant construction. The board approved Teladata’s contract for the outside fiber run and separately approved Sitewise for the internal cabling work; each motion carried on voice vote with no roll‑call tally recorded in the meeting record.

Staff noted the district used a worst‑case cost estimate while final building designs are still in progress and said the district expects actual costs to scale once design work is complete. Officials also said the district would adhere to an 80/20 funding rule for parts of the work and that the district’s 20% share would be included in the bond program.

Board members asked whether any expenses would come from the operations fund; presenters said most of the work is bond‑related and that wrapping some pieces into the bond would save operations dollars. Board discussion included procurement details: a mandatory site visit limited the bidder pool for one package to two firms.

The approvals clear the way for contractors to begin preconstruction and bidding as part of the district’s larger bond schedule.