Hawkins ISD Board of Trustees
General contractor selected; Four of Nine Upgrades OK’d 
By JOHN SPARKS

Meeting in regular session Tuesday, December 19 the Hawkins Independent School District Board of Trustees selected the bid of general contractor, WRL Contractors to carry out the construction and renovation project for the district’s three campuses. The winning bid was 14,333,000, which was $6,000 lower than a second bid submitted by RLM Contractors. Trustees also added four of nine alternative elements, at an added cost of $141,500, bringing the total cost up to $14,474,500.
 

As predicted by Brice Davis, a principal in Thacker Davis Architects, Inc., “aggressive bidding” by contractors1 brought the primary elements of the project in under the $15-million in bond monies approved by HISD voters just over a year ago. The winning bidder is expected to begin the initial phases of the construction work the first week of January. Most renovation work will be done after students are dismissed in May 2007 and before they return in August 2007.
 

The bids were submitted on specifications that included nine alternatives (all upgrades from the original specs) which trustees weighed against the $15-million budget. At the original bid-letting, 1rustees also selected to incorporate four of these alternatives into the work plan. These are:
 

a.)         a concrete sidewalk and gutter on the gymnasium along the Hawk Drive side (Alternative #3);
 

b.)         a canopy system with sun screening from the building over the bus loading/unloading area and at the stadium entrance (Alternative #4);
 

c.)         arm chair seating in gymnasium, instead of bench (Alternative #6), and
 

d.)         upgrade to higher grade of carpeting (Alternative # 9).
 

Five other alternatives were not added by the trustees at this time. These included: paving of stadium parking lot, paving of student parking lot, interior tile wainscoting on non-face brick walls, and replacement of the roof on the fifth-grade pod of the elementary school.
 

On this latter item, the administration will investigate if there is any relief provided in the warranty on the 3-4year-old roof which is showing signs of blistering.
 

Rose also reported enrollment data for the district as of November 30. The district had a total of 752 students enrolled at the end of November, up from 721 at the same date last year. Comparative figures for each campus are: high school 205 from 198; middle school 152 from 148 and elementary school 395 from 366.
 

Trustees are next scheduled to meet January 22 to review the Superintendent’s evaluation. A special meeting of the board can be called with 72-hours notice.