The Edmonds School District Board of Directors is scheduled at its Tuesday, Feb. 8 business meeting to discuss approval of a guaranteed maximum price amendment along with an increase to the total budget for an upgrade project at the school district’s educational services center.
That project consists of replacing the roof and making improvements to the building’s HVAC system and lighting. Those systems are all approximately 30 years old and either approaching or past the end of their useful service life. According to the school board agenda, the building’s roof leaks in many places, and the HVAC and lighting systems are obsolete, not energy efficient and also subject to frequent malfunction.
Last July, the board of directors authorized the award of a contract to Lydig Construction for providing general contractor and construction management services for the building improvements. The contract agreement was structured to allow Lydig to proceed with pre-construction consulting services such as design review and cost estimates. Last November, the board approved a budget increase for the procurement of HVAC equipment due to shortages and delivery delays nationwide.
The Edmonds School District’s Capital Projects Office is requesting an increase to the project’s budget authorization, for a total of $9.2 million. Authorization of the amended amount is intended to cover the costs of construction, sales tax, completed design and architect’s construction administration activities, permits, special inspections and testing, school district project management, contingencies and all other related project costs.
Other items on the agenda include a Scriber Lake High School student presentation and a separate update on the high school’s improvement plan.
The remote meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. There is also an opportunity for public comment and the complete agenda can be viewed here.
If the schools said give us more money and we will raise math test scores by 10% I would say let’s give it a try and if they succeeded or could show great progress I would even vote to renew it. As it is test scores have been falling and average per student spending has gone up 40% in the last 5 years. So I just can’t justify paying more to a system that continues to underperform reasonable expectations. Maybe having less will force them to focus on the basics. Who knows test scores might just go up if there is a more limited focus. So I vote no I am tired of throwing more good money after bad and getting worse results.