Contract for Northside Elementary renovations approved

Northside Elementary School’s former library space may soon become administrative offices for the building, which serves prekindergarten and kindergarten students.

School board members approved a construction management contract during their Oct. 15 meeting with Ellingson Contracting of Siloam Springs and BiLD Architects of Fayetteville for the project.

The proposed renovations would convert the former 2,000-square-foot library space into an administrative office that would include an airlock front entrance, reception area and offices for the school resource officer, assistant principal, registrar and principal, as well as a conference room, work room, staff restrooms and a break room, according to architect Michael Spaeth.

Early estimates show the project cost could be “around $250,000, plus or minus,” said Dave Ellingson, of Ellingson Contracting. The construction management company plans to bid the project out and bring a guaranteed maximum price back to the school board in a few weeks, according to Superintendent Jody Wiggins.

The idea for the project was first brought before the school board in 2018. At the time, the school district bid a construction project that included the addition of a new library to the east side of the elementary school and the renovation of the former library space into administrative offices, Wiggins said. The bids on both projects came in higher than expected, so the district moved forward with building the new library, which was completed during the summer of 2018, and waited on the administrative offices, he said.

Ellingson Contracting was the

low bidder for renovating the office space in 2018, so the school district went back to the company for construction management services, Wiggins said. The contract includes a 6.5 percent construction management fee, which is in line with previous projects, he said.

Once the guaranteed maximum price is approved, Ellingson Contracting hopes to begin doing plumbing and demolition work while students are out of school for Thanksgiving, Ellingson said. The project is estimated to be complete by the end February, Spaeth said.

In other business, Jason Carter, food services director, reported that the school district’s summer feeding program served more than 20,000 meals this year.

Last year the program fell just 300 meals shy of the milestone, he said.

The program provided free lunches at four mobile sites throughout the city and both breakfasts and lunches at two stationary sites, Carter said. The program was in operation Monday through Friday for 53 days over the summer, closing only for Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day, he said.

The program helps fill the summer gap for students who depend on getting their meals at school during the school year.

“As you can tell I get really excited about this. It’s just such a great opportunity for our community,” Carter said.

In other business, the school board took the following actions:

• approved the minority teacher and administrator recruitment plan; and

• accepted the resignation of Kevin Ault, middle school math teacher.