Clay Schools Approves Bid For Electric Service Replacement At Two Schools

Clay County Schools has approved a bid for electric service replacement at Celina K-8 School and Hermitage Springs School.

School Board Chair Benji Bailey said the scope of the project involves replacing and upgrading components of the electric system.

“Going forward if we were to expand or address any issues inside the building,” Bailey said. “It was something that our architect felt like needed to be addressed upfront.”

Bailey told board members that they received only received one bid that was over budget, but that if they waited to approve it that cost would increase some 28 percent. Director of Finance Ashley Holmes said that the company expects about 12 to 13 months to receive the equipment and that with a deadline on ESSER spending they’re stuck with the bid.

Bailey said that the firm is willing to work with the system to explore cheaper options at Celina K-8. He said that they performed an electrical use study.

Bailey said that the problem at the K-8 school, is that the components have to be specially ordered.

“Where it’s at, located there close to the cafeteria, in order to meet fire marshal code, for those guys to get in there and work on it, again it has to be specially ordered,” Bailey said. “There is only one company that we are aware of currently, the way it’s spec’d, that could meet these demands. And that’s part of the reason for the way the bid came back.”