Selection of a bid for construction of the Partnership School will wait following Tuesday’s meeting of the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees.
Following Superintendent Eddie Peasant’s recommendation, the Board of Trustees did not accept any of the four bids at its meeting Tuesday night.
Peasant and JJ&H Architects Principal Bruce Wood said there were more discussions needed prior to accepting a bid. However, Peasant said the district had been in talks with Columbus-based West Brothers Construction, the lowest bidder with a base bid of $26,450,000. Other bids include $28,586,000 from Tupelo-based Century Construction and Realty, $27,866,000 from Brandon-based Flagstar Construction and $28,200, 000 from Thrash Commercial Contracting, also of Brandon.
“We look forward to maybe having a recommendation at the next board meeting based on information we’re looking at now, and that means we could possibly do notice to proceed on December 13,” Wood said.
Wood said JH&H was in the process of value engineering with West Brothers, trying to get the cost down even more
Peasant said the board would be ready to approve a bid at its Dec. 13 meeting or before.
“It’s my recommendation that we do hold off on accepting and approving this until we can get more information from them,” Peasant said.
Wood said the bids did not include furniture and technology for the school, in addition to some other systems and furnishings trimmed from the bid prior to the October board meeting.
Current contributions to the Partnership include $12.5 million from the district, $10 million from the state of Mississippi and $5 million from Mississippi State University. Once it is complete in fall 2019, the school will house all sixth and seventh graders in the district. It will also serve as a laboratory for the MSU College of Education. The school site is located near the north entrance of the MSU campus, across from the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park. Dirt work on the site will be complete with in the next two or three weeks.
Peasant also announced the departure of another of the district’s top brass.
HOLLOWAY MOVES ON
Assistant Superintendent for Federal Programs and Operations Toriano Holloway will be moving on to be superintendent of the Quitman School District. Holloway has served five-and-a-half years with the district, and was principal of Harrison Central High School in Harrison County prior. His last day with the district is Dec. 15, and he will start in Quitman on Jan 1, 2018.
“I’m appreciative of the opportunity I’ve had to offer a better education to the children of Starkville and Oktibbeha County,” Holloway said.
Holloway said he hoped to raise the currently D-rated Quitman School District’s accountability.
“By the time I leave Quitman, we will be a B school district,” Holloway said.