The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1465137
Vote Jared Furman County Council District 1 Paid for by candidate I am running to help our local businesses grow and thrive. I am running to bring new services and opportunities to all the people of Pike County. As President of the Library Board, I am responsible for the approval of and working with the set budget to provide a variety of services to our community. Because of being fiscally responsible during my term as President, the Library has been expanded and numerous technology features added at no additional cost to YOU the taxpayers. Planning for the next five years has begun for the Library, and I am looking for many cost-saving measures to continue to expand services without further burdening YOU the taxpayers. If elected, I will always look out for how to best steward YOUR tax dollars during budget season and throughout the year. I will participate on Council committees. I will have my voice heard in Council discussions. I will be available for YOU, residents of District 1, as YOUR voice for our future in Pike County. "People and Progress in Pike County Equals Success" Vote Furman May 3 for a Better Pike County. Vote for NEW Ideas, Fiscal Accountability & GROWTH By Andy Heuring Pike County School board approved the purchase of ra- dio improvements at Peters- burg, technology updates and the adoption of new math books during their meeting last Tuesday night. The board voted to approve the low bid by Mounts Elec- tric, Inc. of Evansville to in- stall new "house lights" in the Pike Central High School Vance Hays Auditorium. Mounts' bid of $ 31,422 was the low bid of three bidders. The other two bids were All- Trade Solutions LLC of Fort Branch at $ 34,761 and Fisch- er Electric, Inc. of Saint An- thony at $51,350. Mounts bid calls for them to replace and dispose of 22 400 -watt metal halide fix- tures, disconnect and demo existing house lighting con- trols, furnish 22 dimmable fix- tures and wire them to exist- ing lighting circuits and fur- nish a new control system to operate the LED lights that can be controlled from three different locations and as a single zone. Superintendent Dr. Su- zanne Blake said the board had already approved the proj- ect, but not the actual bid. She said this was the final step of several improvements to the auditorium that include a new microphone system, other lighting improvements, new flooring for the stage and new curtains. The board also approved a new radio system used for communication in the Peters- burg Elementary School. Dr. Blake said similar im- provements had been made to the Winslow School earli- er this year. The two bids for the new system and upgrades were $28,811.07 from J & K of Indi- anapolis and $25,036.86 from VEI of Evansville. Dr. Blake recommended J & K's bid even though it was about $ 3,000 more. She said she liked J & K's approach more than VEI's . She added VEI never came on site at the school. They originally bid $5,500 for and then when they learned additional equipment was needed and other equip- ment needed to be moved, they bid $25,000. "I'm not comfortable with what they have in their bid. They have used equipment in it. I'm just more comfortable with J & K and their approach." The board agreed and voted to approve the J & K bid. Board members also ap- proved new math books for K-12. Different grades lev- els went with different book companies. Assistant Super- intendent Dana Deffendoll said they had better agree- ment among the groups for the books than in years past. "The K-5 crowd had 94 per- cent agreement. That is un- precedented," said Deffendoll. "So there was a lot of work done in review. And when I had choices, there was a lot of communication with the reps and frankly, I'm kind of sick with having to increase any textbook fees. I never ev- er want to do that," said Def- fendoll. She added the books they have now are already ex- pensive. "But the cost of textbooks have gone up with the cost of everything else, unfortunate- ly. And like I said, I went back and forth and pulled and twist- ed every arm I could reach and got 9 % off with the Big Ideas books throughout, with some free resources thrown in. But that was the best I could do," said Deffendoll. The books approved for K- 5 are Big Ideas Math: Model- ing Real Life. The cost of the new books range from $5 to $11 more. Sixth grade books from Big Ideas Math increased 70 cents. Seventh and eighth grade books were from Mc- Graw-Hill, Indiana Math Re- veal. The fee increase for 7th grade is $2.90, 8th grade $4.14, honors algebra has an increase of $ 33.49. Algebra I, II and Geom- etry is McGraw Hill: Indi- ana Math Reveal. All three of these books will be between six cents to 61 cents less. PreCalculus and Calculus selected was Cengage. Those fees increased about $13. In other business, the school board approved the purchase of 250 new Chrome- books for fifth grade and freshmen students. They received bids on three different devices. The bids were from SHI for Dell 3100 units at a cost of $ 66,000, RTI for HP 11 MK Gen (EE at a cost of $ 64,125 and Vivacity for Lenovo 100eGen2 units for $73,250.) Phil Clauss, Corporation Technology Coordinator, rec- ommended going with the Dell 3100 from SHI. "Although they are not the least expen- sive option, we believe the Dell 3100 is the better choice. We spent way too much time deal- ing with warranty and break- ages on the HP devices over the past three years," said Clause in a letter to the board. His recommendation was approved. The next school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 9. School board purchases radio and technology upgrades We're not afraid to shed some light on the truth. 812-354-8500 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! A-8 Wednesday, April 20, 2022 The Press-Dispatch