School board votes to reject all bids for Raider Academy stadium after bid protest

The Coffee County School Board voted unanimously on May 11 to reject all bids for the Raider Academy stadium additions and renovations and to rebid the contract using option B only, after hearing a bid protest and legal advice.

Ross Hutchison, attorney for Brinley and Sons Construction, told the board Brinley had submitted “the lowest responsive and responsible bid” for the Raider Academy stadium project and said the board’s record showed Brinley’s bid was $98,000 less than the second-lowest and about $250,000 less than the contractor ultimately awarded the work. Hutchison said there was “no documented lawful reason to reject it,” and that public bidding law requires a documented, fact-based reason to disqualify a low bidder.

Jonathan Polk, division manager for Thrash Construction Services, said Thrash filed a protest to seek clarity about the bid-evaluation process and stressed Thrash’s ongoing work with Coffee County Schools on a separate Central High School security improvements contract.

Board attorney Catherine Kimmel said she and a colleague reviewed the May 11 meeting recording, the bid documents, and the architect Wold’s recommendation and advised that the board has statutory discretion to reject all bids. Kimmel recommended the board “reject all bids at this time and rebid the contract” so the board could fully consider factors discussed at the May 11 meeting; the motion before the board adopted that recommendation and limited the rebid to option B only.

Hutchison said a competing bidder’s objections—that Brinley’s price was “too low” and concerns about past project issues—had influenced the board’s deliberations. He argued that, under Tennessee law, a competitor’s challenge to price alone does not establish nonresponsiveness and that the record did not show other documentation to disqualify Brinley.

Rick Brinley, identified in the record as the owner of Brinley and Sons Construction, defended his company’s past performance, saying some quality issues raised at the hearing involved different contractors or scopes and were not attributable to his firm.

The motion to reject and rebid the Raider Academy contract was moved by Mr. Cordell and seconded by Mr. Gilley; the chair called the vote and the board approved the motion by voice, recorded as 6–0 in favor. The meeting then adjourned after a routine motion to close the session.

What happens next: the board’s vote directs staff to proceed with rejecting the prior awards and issuing a rebid of the Raider Academy stadium work under option B only; the transcript does not specify a timetable for reissuing the bid or next steps in oversight.