School board member faults project consultant

By TOM KANE

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — School Board member Jerry Triolo took Hillier consultant Mac Rawley to task for accepting a bid that was missing necessary equipment.

Hillier is the architectural consultant to the school board.

Triolo, who has a special interest in the television studio in the new high school because of his children’s interest in the subject, reacted strongly to the fact that TV equipment was not included in the company’s bid response.

The missing equipment amounted to about $120,000.

“How could this happen?” he asked. “And more importantly what are you going to do about it?”

Rawley suggested purchasing the equipment at a lower cost of $60,000.

Triolo said that the equipment should be state-of-the-art.

“Is your company going to pay for this?” Triolo asked.

“I’m not authorized to make that kind of decision,” Rawley said.

After more discussion, the board decided that Rawley would return to the next meeting of the board with a more detailed list of equipment types and costs that could be purchased for the school’s studio.

They did not decide who would pay for the mistake.

In other board business, Scott Bridie, the board’s construction consultant from Turner Construction, and Rawley, the board’s architect, reported that the gymnasium and the auditorium would be ready for occupancy at the end of September.

Assistant Superintendent Charlotte Gregory informed the board that the telephone system was installed but that it was not totally functional yet.

“We expect it to be operational tomorrow or the next day,” she said.

All four of the districts schools, including the new high school, will be open for business as usual the first week of September. Opening day for students will be September 3.

Johndrow also informed the board that the bus company, First Student, has 35 new busses that will be used to serve district’s schools.

After an executive session, the board voted to contract with BOCES, which will conduct a search for a new superintendent of schools.

During the meeting a petition of 170 names of parents was presented to the board, urging them to renew Johndrow’s contract, which expires at the end of this school year. A few months ago, the board held a straw vote on the matter and decided by a vote of 5 to 4 not to renew his contract. The election of two new board members did not change the balance of the board against Johndrow.