Bedford County Board of Education took bids on a variety of items last Thursday night, ranging from chairs and desks to textbook management software.

The school board heard presentations from two furniture companies for supplying student desks for the new Harris Middle School. In the end, the board voted to take a bid of $69,750 for the desks from Missco Contract Sales, even though it was not the low bid, because they liked the construction of its product better. Missco was also accepted as the best bidder for a variety of other furniture items.

Similarly, the board took what it called the best bid, rather than the low bid, on textbook management software, saying that a bid from Destiny of $33,753 offered a better warranty on a scanner and is more compliant with the school's standardized databases.

The board bought a zero turn diesel lawn tractor from Bedford Tractor and Implement over three out-of-town bidders, two of whom had lower prices, because School Superintendent Mike Bone said it would cause less disruption to send a mower to a local dealer for service.

The board did take the low bid on a driver's education vehicle, purchasing a 2001 Ford Taurus SE from Kennith Wessner Ford-Mercury for $6,800.

The board voted to purchase a concrete pad for the football stands at Community High School for $10,800 from Haynes Service Co., the only bidder.

The board voted to give the administration two different options on seeding the new Harris Middle School football and soccer fields. A bid on seed was approved in case the administration decides to seed the fields itself, which would cost about $4,000, or Bone could decide to use Goldtree Landscape and Irrigation to plant sprigs at the field for $6,425. An irrigation system for the fields will be purchased from Goldtree for $11,500.

In other discussion:

Field trips: The board voted to increase the mileage fee for field trips and extracurricular activities from 40 cents a mile to 60 cents a mile, due to rising fuel costs.

Corporal punishment: The board deferred action on a revision to its corporal punishment policy.

Tenure recommendations: The board approved teacher tenure recommendations for 2005-06.

Veterans Day: The board heard a presentation from Carl Smith, representing the United Veterans Council, asking that Veterans Day be made a permanent, annual school holiday in order to facilitate having the annual Veterans Day parade during the daytime.

Surplus: The board declared surplus items from Community Elementary School and Harris Middle School.