School board to talk HVAC renovation, accountability model, Knox Middle

Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 13, 2019

SALISBURY — Members of the Rowan-Salisbury School Board will revisit several recent topics and receive a “detailed overview” of the school system’s new accountability model during its 4 p.m. meeting on Monday.

The meeting will be at the Wallace Educational Forum — 500 North Main St. And the board typically holds a closed session at the start of the meeting.

Items to be considered include:

• As part of the consent agenda, approving contracts for HVAC renovations at Landis and Mt. Ulla elementary schools, West Rowan and Erwin middle schools and North Rowan High School for a total of $2.78 million.

The contracts are with Superior Mechanical Services of Greensboro.

HVAC renovation costs at individual schools are as follows: $885,000 at Landis Elementary, $137,000 at Mt. Ulla Elementary, $177,000 at West Rowan Middle, $995,000 at Erwin Middle and $595,000 at North Rowan High.

• Receive a presentation from Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Julie Morrow and Chief Strategy Office Andrew Smith about the system’s new accountability model.

The school board has received a preliminary look at the model, which sets standards in areas of academic skills, unique life goals and interpersonal skills, but Monday’s agenda says this will be a detailed look at the model, which is intended to judge the performance of schools and students.

Monday’s agenda documents state an implementation year with each accountability item, what type of reporting will occur, evidence that will be used to judge students, the frequency of reporting and who will be responsible for putting in data.

The school system’s timeline asks that Board of Education members provide feedback on the model during Monday’s meeting, with final presentation set for Oct. 28.

• The board will receive a presentation from Chief Financial Officer Carol Herndon that’s focused on how to repurpose money as part of the “renewal” school district and who gets the final say in repurposing.

As part of renewal, individual schools could, for example, choose to repurpose money for vacant teacher positions to other projects.

Principals Marvin Moore, of Isenberg, Luke Brown, of Salisbury, and Shona Hairston, of Knollwood, are also scheduled to talk about their experiences with repurposing money.

• The board is scheduled to discuss an agreement with LS3P Associates to be the design consultant for a $26 million renovation to Knox Middle School.

The renovation would construct a new 60,000-square-foot, two-story middle school classroom buildings and put it in the rear of the facility, where three existing classroom buildings are scheduled to be demolished. The project will also include “heavy renovations” to 45,000 square feet of existing classroom and administrative space, including a new roof, windows, floor, HVAC system, electrical, plumbing and security items.

In a related matter, the board is scheduled to discuss a recommendation to pick Barnhill Contracting Company as the construction manager at risk for the project.