Kentwood schools approve $1.6 million in facility upgrades, buy emergency mapping software

The Kentwood Board of Education on April 20 approved a series of facility and technology contracts totaling roughly $1.68 million, moving forward on carpet replacement, boiler and HVAC upgrades and a roof replacement while also buying safety-mapping software for district use.

Trustee Marlon Brown moved and Treasurer Pete Battey seconded approval of a $550,290.24 contract with Bentley Mills and DeGraaf Interiors to replace district carpeting; the board said funding will come from the district’s Sinking Fund. Treasurer Battey later moved, with Vice President Sylvia James supporting, to buy GeoComm safety-mapping software under a three-year agreement not to exceed $94,038 from the FY26 General Fund. The motions carried.

The board also approved an HVAC project at Pinewood Middle School to replace a JCI/Tempmaster split system and condenser coil at a cost of $154,500 and two separate boiler projects: two Intellihot on-demand boilers for the East Kentwood High School Freshman Campus at $129,265 and two Fulton Endura EXE-1500 boilers for Discovery Elementary at $282,805. Trustee Allen Young made the motions on the HVAC and one set of boilers; Trustee Tanya Powell-May moved the other boiler purchase. All were funded from the Sinking Fund and were approved by the board.

Trustee Kim Taboada-Arzate moved, seconded by Trustee Marlon Brown, to award a $520,861 contract to Arrow Roofing & Supply to replace the roof at Bowen Elementary; the board approved that contract as well.

Board documents show the district is using its Sinking Fund for the large capital work and the FY26 General Fund for the GeoComm purchase. The board approved the March 2026 disbursement summary and a list of new hires during the same meeting.

The board did not provide detailed vote tallies for the individual motions in the public minutes beyond the notation “motion carried.”