Halstead Student Council receives area recycling award, CCISD trustees look at campus HVAC replacements

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press

The Student Council of Hettie Halstead Elementary received the award for winning first place in the annual Fort Hood/Cen-Tex Partnership Recycle Bowl recycling competition after recycling more than 5,000 pounds of paper and cardboard products in a 30-day period. 
The award was presented by Fort Hood Directorate of Public Works Environmental Outreach Coordinator Christine Luciano during the Copperas Cove Independent School District’s monthly board meeting Tuesday evening. 
“We’ve had this competition for the last seven years, and for the last five years, consecutively, there’s always been a Copperas Cove school that has won first place,” Luciano said. “I love the competitive spirit, the passion of the students. Hettie Halstead, this illustrates the amazing impact they’re doing. Within one month’s time, this small group of students, 13 students, along with soldiers and the supportive leadership from their school and their staff, they were able to recycle 5,198 pounds of cardboard and paper products in just 30 days.” 
The winners of the Texas Recycles poster contest were also announced. The winners include Savion Solomon, Kaybriegh Busby, Mila Wagner and Izaiah Price, all from Hettie Halstead Elementary School.
The board approved the consent agenda which included two purchases exceeding $25,000, including the purchase of TeachTown, for $127,153.17. TeachTown is a Special Education Software, Curriculum, and Learning Tools system that will replace the N2Y Special Education Software presently being used.
The other purchase was for Aeramax Professional air purifiers and filters for $29,562.40. 
The board also accepted a donation in the amount of $100 from Cove Tropics for the Child Nutrition Services Department. They also approved an out of state trip for board members to attend the NAFIS (National Association of Federally Impacted Schools) Spring Conference next month, for a total cost of $18,166.33. 
The board approved the proposed school calendar for the 2022-2023 school year. The board also approved the summer schedule for 2022. This schedule is for May 31, 2022 to July 29, 2022, and the times and days are: Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon. The district and campus offices will be closed July 4, 2022 through July 8, 2022 in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.
The board approved prime contract change order No. 16 to the guaranteed maximum price amendment, dated July 14, 2021, for the Martin Walker Phase of the Rehabilitation and Additions contract between CCISD and BWC Education Group, LLC, as the Construction Manager At-Risk.
The board previously approved a Guaranteed Maximum Price Amendment with BWC Education Group for the renovations and additions at Martin Walker Elementary School for $6,447,748.00. When this budget was approved, though, neither CCISD nor BWC Education Group knew that Atmos Energy Corporation would require the district to increase the capacity of the gas line that feeds the campus. BWC Education Group received three proposals from Atmos approved contractors, with the lowest cost accepted. As a result, the new contract for the Guaranteed Maximum Price will be $6,600,281.50, which is an increase of $152,533.50.
The board also approved the rankings of proposals for the HVAC replacement at Copperas Cove High School, Copperas Cove Junior High, Martin Walker, Miss Jewell, Child Nutrition Services and Bulldawg Stadium. During the November 2021 Board Meeting, the board authorized the district to issue a Competitive Sealed Proposal (CSP) for the project. Three proposals were received, and a committee of three members ranked the proposals. The construction budget established by O’Connell Robertson was $2,450,000. The proposals are ranked in the following order: 1. Baird Williams ($2,432,000), 2. HCS Construction ($2,781,876) and 3. RKJ Construction ($4,038,099).