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Board approves budget, contracts, construction and program assurances in unanimous votes
Summary
At its May 18 meeting the Catawba County Board of Education unanimously approved financial resolutions, licensing renewals, construction design and preconstruction fees, several program assurances and a number of purchases and change orders; most actions were routine and passed without recorded dissents.
The Catawba County Board of Education met May 18 and approved a slate of routine and capital items, including budget resolutions, technology licensing renewals, construction and design contracts, and program assurances.
Among the formal actions, the board adopted a year‑end financial resolution that permits the chief finance officer to record and later reconcile late state, federal or local allocations and passed a continuing resolution to carry 2025–26 spending into 2026–27 until final state allotments arrive. Chief Finance Officer Seth Privet framed the resolutions as precautionary measures to avoid leaving funds unspent if new allotments arrive late.
The board also approved technology licensing renewal quotes presented by Marty Sharp, including an enterprise Microsoft agreement (~$117,502), a Google licensing move to a standard tier (projected to cost about $52,206), and continued use of Lightspeed filtering and Lightspeed Alert for student device CIPA compliance. Sharp said the district negotiated savings by contracting directly with Lightspeed.
Construction and facilities approvals included: a final change order for Maiden Elementary that reduced the contract by $699,413 (from $29,277,000 to $28,577,587); bid tabulations for paving projects (Precision Paving apparent low bidder at $656,779 for Lyle Creek Elementary and Bunker Hill High School work); and approvals of design and preconstruction fees for a multi‑school middle‑school renovation program (LS3P design fee proposal totaling up to $4,624,000 if all allowances are exercised, Holland & Hamrick design proposal for Maiden Middle at $2,470,000, and a $1.2 million preconstruction fee with Hickory Construction Company).
Other approved items included the 2026–27 school nutrition requests (six rollover food and supply bids, a sole‑source procurement for LINC School Nutrition for financial/meal transaction services, and expansion of the Super Snack program), the career technical education assurances document tied to a new aviation curriculum, and the career and college partnership agreement with Catawba Valley Community College. The board also approved student transfer availability for the 2026–27 window and a vendor recommendation to replace Blackburn Elementary’s intercom system at $48,108.56.
Most approvals passed by a unanimous voice/hand vote with no recorded objections. The meeting recessed to a closed session at the end of the public agenda to consult with counsel and discuss personnel matters.
