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Back of Warren Central

Front of Warren Central

Front of Warren Central

Back of Vicksburg High as seen from Confederate Avenue

Front of Vicksburg High as seen from Drummond Street

Front of Vicksburg High as seen from Drummond Street

Work on the buildings throughout the Vicksburg Warren School District is ready to move out of the design phase after more than a month of planning following the passage of the school district’s bond referendum.

The bids for the first two reroofing projects, which will take place at Warren Central High School and Beechwood Elementary, are expected to go out next week so large portions of the work can take place before school resumes in August.

The next set of reroofing projects will go out two weeks later and include Vicksburg High and Vicksburg Junior High.

Gary Bailey, who is managing the project for Dale Bailey Architects, said they have finalized most of the reroofing plans, but are stair-stepping the bids so as to not flood the market with too much work.

On buildings such as Warren Central and Vicksburg High where they were be expansions and remodels, areas that will undergo future changes will receive temporary roofs so material and money is not wasted on areas for it to be torn back up again.

The major project at Vicksburg High is moving along at an expedited pace as the district applies for new market tax credits that the school qualifies for that expire in October. Bailey said they hope to know in the next week or two if they have been selected for the tax credits.

“Assuming that continues, we will push that agenda to have that project out for bid in August and receive bids in September in which to achieve these new market tax credits,” Bailey said. “Right behind that, about two months, later will be the Warren Central project.”

In the meantime, they are doing site surveys at the two high schools and will soon begin soil borings to prepare for new foundations, and testing for hazardous material and asbestos at the high schools and eventually other schools in the district.

Bailey said they have also worked to set a budget timeline that will enable them to sell the $83 million worth of bonds most effectively.

“We’ve had numerous meetings with leadership on scheduling and budgeting and we have budget projection of the entire bond issue of how much money will be needed per month to help the bond sale folks and the attorneys working on that to sell bonds at the appropriate times and create investments at the appropriate time,” he said.

Also at Thursday’s meeting of the Board of Trustees, the board voted to hire Secure One to provide security for the 2018-19 school year. Secure One was not the low bidder, but was recommended because Gulf Coast Security, which had the low bid, did not have a complete packet or any references. The cost for security next year will be $181,260.

Thomas & Thomas, which provided the security for 2017-18 school year, came in second in the scoring after raising its annual price from $174,420 to $188,100.

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