Whitley Co. BOE takes steps to save $20,000 on WCMS HVAC project

The Whitley County Board of Education is going to save over $20,000 by directly purchasing the new air-conditioning units for its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system upgrade at Whitley County Middle School this summer.

During a special called meeting on April 30 that was held via Zoom video conferencing, the board voted to directly purchase the units rather than having the contractor, C-3 Mechanical, do it.

Because of the timing of bond sales and so forth, the board opted to purchase the units directly in order to ensure the equipment would arrive in time so the project could be completed this summer.

By purchasing the HVAC units itself, the school district won’t have to pay sales tax, which will save about $21,000, noted Chief Finance Officer Alicia Logan.

Also, during the meeting, the board finalized the 2019-2020 amended school calendar.

The closing date for students has gone from May 22 to May 8, said Director of Pupil Personnel Patrick Bowlin.

Senate Bill 177 allows school districts to go back to a per hours calculation rather than a per days calculation. A total of 1,064 instructional hours are required.

School districts are also being allowed to calculate Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) days as seven hours of instructional time daily rather than six hours, Bowlin added.