Members of the Trussville Board of Education met with the contractor for the new high school for the first time on Dec. 20. Doster Construction Company is the low bidder for the contract, but the board still needed to cut back some of the expenses on the contract.
Part of the need for the cutback was due to a shortfall in the amount of money expected from the Jefferson County Sales Tax bond and what the school system would receive.
School Superintendent Suzanne Freeman said they were disappointed in the amount of money they would be getting.
“Our number did not match Jefferson County’s,” Freeman said.
She said Jefferson County used the numbers from 2003, when the school system was smaller than it is now.
Davis Architects, Doster Construction and members of the school board met to try to make cuts to the project so the groundbreaking could proceed on schedule.
Some of the changes being considered involve the landscape for the new high school. Also, the contractors would be meeting with the maintenance personnel to discuss which mechanical areas could be cut-back without costing the school system more in heating, cooling and lighting costs. A cost analysis will also be done to see if holding parts of the project would be feasible or if it would end up costing the school system more later.
The list of possible cuts will be put together by the end of the first week in January, and a work session will be held for the building project.
The groundbreaking for the new high school is currently set to take place Jan. 8.
