Bedford County Board of Education met Thursday evening at the Shelbyville Central High School library, following a reception for new teachers, to discuss a hefty agenda that was highlighted by building program updates and school test scores.

Prior to addressing those issues, the meeting opened with the board unanimously re-electing Barry Cooper to serve another term as board chairman. Ron Adcock was nominated and also elected unanimously to serve as vice-chair.

Building program updates regarding Learning Way Elementary and Community High School were addressed by American Constructors, with Tom Grott reporting unfavorable news about warranty issues of the elementary school.

Learning Way extended warranty

"I wish I could give you an answer you'd want to hear, but I can't," Grott said.

Learning Way is scheduled to be finished in late November, at which point a one-year warranty on the school will be issued. The board expressed concern in July over this date because students will not occupy the building until several months after the warranty is issued.

Board members fear any potential problems with the new building -- mainly in terms of heating and cooling units -- would not be addressed prior to the warranty expiring in late 2009 because students will not occupy the building, while it's under warranty, during winter months.

The board attempted to work out a resolution such that the warranty would not be issued until May 2009, six months after the completion date, expiring in May 2010, which would give the school plenty of time to iron out any problems that could arise during winter months.

Grott said there's no way to prolong the work and/or extend the warranty that makes sense to him or the subcontractors. He suggested the school system use the building this winter as much as possible for meetings and other school events.

"I've never been in a situation where we wanted (subcontractors) to slow down," laughed Bud Melson, a project consultant for the board.

Glenn Forsee, board member, asked if it would be possible for the board to purchase an extended six-month warranty for the school to get them through their first, fully occupied winter at the school.

Grott said he would check into that possibility.

Community High fire pump and tank

At the August board meeting, the possibility of purchasing a fire pump and tank for Community High School was discussed after Grott reported the water supply in Unionville could not provide enough water pressure, year round, to make the school's sprinkler system work effectively.

On Thursday, board member Amy Martin clarified that the water pressure had been tested several times, prior to Grott giving the August report, and that when it was tested last winter the water pressure was deemed acceptable. It was retested this summer -- during the peak season of water use -- and that's when the problem was noticed.

Ed Gray, school's superintendent, suggested the board defer the bid for the new fire pump and tank, which would cost around $232,575, because he said Bedford County Utility District is going to redirect Community's water flow to come from Ransom Hill station, which is more uphill.

"Bedford County Utility District has been super cooperative," Gray said.

Martin agreed and said, "I want this community to know what Bedford County Utility District has done to save this county money."

Cooper informed board members that after last month's meeting, he received a call from someone willing to donate a tank to the board if needed.

"There's a lot of good news on this front," Cooper said.

Community High propane storage tank

The board reported that the cost of a used LP propane storage tank, to heat Community High School, will cost approximately $87,200 from low bidders Paul Akers, Inc.

"We intentionally excluded this from the construction contract, because architects fees, construction management fees, and sales tax are saved by us doing it ourselves," said Martin, following the meeting. "These savings together are close to 15 percent of the cost of the tank. This is one of many things we contract for outside the scope of the construction contract to save money."

By bidding out the propane tank through the board, no building fees are incurred in the process, nor does it become part of the bond issue, which is paid off through loans (interest), Martin said.

The board decided to purchase its own tank as opposed to leasing one.

"When tanks are leased you are required to purchase the propane gas from the leasing agency," Martin said. "As a governmental agency we are required to bid our supplies, therefore, we must own our tanks for propane. Also, by owning your tank you can pre-buy in the summer when the price is hopefully lower."

Savings from the Shelbyville Central and Learning Way projects have provided the funding needed for the new propane tank.

School buses

The board reported it will purchase four 90-passenger school buses from Mid-South Bus Center, Inc. in Murfreesboro to accommodate increased student enrollment and an increase in number of students riding buses this year as a result of the rising price of gasoline.

"We'll see more of this as the year goes on," Gray said.

There are 200-plus more students riding buses this year, Gray said. The cost of the four buses is approximately $310,000.

The new buses also replace old buses that are being rotated out of the system. The state sets a 15-year limit on how long buses can operate.

The rotation was put in place by the Bedford County administration so it "could stay current with keeping buses replaced each year as they go off to avoid the pitfall of maybe 12 years ago when they weren't doing that and ended up with 15 buses having to be replaced all at once," said Suzanne Hicks, board secretary.

Other actions

* Also Thursday evening, the board accepted a low bid from Billy Thomas Plumbing for the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) replacement for Shelbyville Central High School's annex. The bid was for approximately $117,000, which is nearly $63,000 less than what the board had budgeted for.

* Joan Gray gave a report on the 2008 Bedford County Technology Conference. Gray said this conference, while not required, is one of the most popular in-services by the teachers.

"The purpose of the conference is to encourage teachers to integrate technology into the classroom," she said. She continued by stating in order for technology to be effective in the classroom, it needs to be used.

More than 400 people attended the conference, which featured 29 exhibitors and 41 sessions.