The Examiner U-46 News Feed

Expense proposals ratified via Dist. U-46 board vote

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 voted 5-0, board president Sue Kerr and member Veronica Noland were absent, on $6.1 million in expenditure proposals at its meeting on Monday, March 4.
  The largest item was $3.1 million (operations and maintenance fund) with FH Paschen for auditorium house lighting and stage rigging replacement at Elgin High School.
  The current light dimming system is “original to the 1970 auditorium” and has “exceeded their useful life expectancy and need replacement,” the proposal stated.
  Costing $1.8 million (operations and maintenance), the district will replace switchboards at Heritage and Horizon elementary schools and install an emergency generator at Lords Park Elementary School with Newcastle Electric.
  “Heritage, Horizon, and Lords Park Elementary Schools do not have emergency generators that provide power to the health, life, and safety systems in the event of a power failure,” the proposal stated.
  With Happ Builders, the district will spend $824,700 (operations and maintenance) on a ceiling and lighting project at Ronald D. O'Neal Elementary School.
  It’s the final phase of a project “replacing the first-floor ceiling and lighting as the current suspended ceiling is in disrepair and the fluorescent lighting is obsolete,” the proposal stated.
  To replace and recondition football helmets and shoulder pads, the district will spend $121,704 (education fund) with Riddell.
  “Reconditioning, recertification, and replacement of football helmets and shoulder pads is conducted annually at our five high schools in order to maintain maximum safety in equipment and compliance with concussion protocol, as well as to meet insurance requirements,” the proposal states.
  The district will replace two plant operations vehicles for $106,650 (operations and maintenance) with Currie Motors, lease sport field painters to mark athletic fields for $81,700 (operations and maintenance) from Turf Tank, conduct a first floor painting project at Tefft Middle School for $58,065 (operations and maintenance) with Go Painters and replace the entryway at Canton Middle School for $36,500 (operations and maintenance) with Crystal Glass Corporation.
  A one-year contract renewal with Peters Electric and Technology was approved to provide electrical on-call services. The cost of the contract is based on usage of the service.
  The proposal stated there was a 1.5 percent increase in the hourly rate while the district spent $65,054 in 2022-2023 and $368,371 in 2023-2024.
  Also approved by 5-0 votes was a resolution to dispose of surplus property and $5.8 million in itemized bills.