BISD earmarks hail damage settlement for new roofs

April 17

10:48 2018

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During last week’s Breckenridge Independent School District Board of Trustees meeting, trustees approved an additional $1,069,408.51 to their settlement from property Casualty Alliance of Texas for hail damage that buildings in the district had received. That amount, combined with a $749,165.32 the district had already received for the damage, brings the total settlement received from PCAT by BISD for the damage to $1,818,573.83.

BISD Superintendent Tim Seymore said the district felt the initial settlement of $749,165.32 from PCAT for the hail damage was not sufficient, so they hired the law firm of Gravely/Pearson on a contingency basis. The firm filed a suit against PCAT, and the insurance company then settled the lawsuit.

Seymore said the law firm brought in forensics experts to assess the hail damage at the schools and they were able to get the school district the additional settlement.

Roofing Contract
After approving the hail damage settlement with PCAT, trustees awarded a contract to DK Haney roofing to replace the roofs on several BISD buildings. The company previously did the roofing work at South and East elementary schools and the high school ag building,

The roofs that will be replaced under the new contract include the Breckenridge High School main building, cafeteria, field house, concession stand, V.O.E. building, woodshop, metal shop, band hall and Bailey Auditorium. At Breckenridge Junior High, the main building and junior high gym will get new roofs. Also, the BISD Administration building will have its roof replaced.

At L.T. Cook Gym, the main part of the roof will be repaired, not replaced. However, the roof on the lower part of the building, which Seymore said is referred to as the junior high field house, where the locker rooms are located, will be replaced.

According to the contract, all the roofs will be replaced with Duro-Last Roofing, which has a 20-year warranty.

There will also be a 10 percent contingency fee set up on the roofing project that will be used to make repairs to parts of the roof that were not covered by the lawsuit. Seymore said it will cover things like old, rusted metal that has been there for as much as 30 or 40 years, which can be replaced at the same time.

The roofing work is expected to start within one to two weeks, Seymore said.

In addition to approving the roofing contract, trustees also approved a $66,019.61 contract for architectural services for the roofing renovation with Bechil and Associates, Inc. Seymore said all construction projects that exceed $100,000 are required under current law to have an architect/engineer.

Paving Services
Also during the meeting, trustees voted to authorize the superintendent to negotiate with and hire Raydon Construction for paving services not to exceed $50,000.

Security Update
Seymore also updated board members on looking into upgrading security at the schools. He said he’s been meeting with security companies and doing walk-throughs with them to make assessments of security at the campuses. He said he still has a couple walk-throughs scheduled.

He expects to get proposals from five or six different companies, then do an analysis of the bids and present them to the trustees at either the May or June board meeting.

Accelerated Learning Center
During the Making a Difference – Highlights on Learning portion of the meeting, Molly Johnson, director of curriculum and instruction, gave trustees an overview of recent activities at the district and an update on the district’s teacher recruitment efforts.

She said the high school had graduated two students earlier that day from the Accelerated Learning Center for at-risk kids, making a total of 10 graduates this year. Last year, the program graduated nine students.

“I really think that we can say that this program is a success,” Johnson said. “These are kids, honestly, we could have lost, who would have dropped out, that had a lot of issues. They really knew they had accomplished something and overcome a lot of obstacles. They were just so proud of themselves; it was a neat thing to watch.”

Thomas Tennison last meeting
Monday night’s meeting was outgoing board Board of Trustees member Thomas Tennison’s last meeting. He has served six years on the board and decided not to run for reelection. He will be replaced by incoming board member Paul Lippe, who will be sworn during at the Tuesday, May 8, board meeting, along with Graham Reaugh who was re-elected in an uncontested race.

Other business
Also, the BISD Board approved an agreement with the firm Merritt, McLane & Hamby for auditing services.

Additionally, they accepted the resignations of teachers Margaret Gaeta, Tonya Taylor and Amanda Clevenger. Last month, the board received the resignations of teachers James Jarrett and Tommie Parker and Transportation Director John Graham.

Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

Above photo, cutline: Breckenridge High School and Junior High School are scheduled to get new roofs this year. The project will be paid for with a settlement the school district received from the insurance company, following a lawsuit. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Students of the Month

Kindergartner Avery Wimberley was honored as the East Elementary Student of the Month by her teacher Halee Mitchell, right, and principal Barbara Collinsworth, left. (Photo by Tony PIlkington/Breckenridge Texan)

South Elementary student Jose “Junior” Duran was named Student of the Month by Principal Kenna Rainey. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan.