Gilroy school district officials have dedicated more than $900,000 of Measure P bond funds to purchase and install “Safe School Locks” at each of Gilroy Unified School District’s eight elementary schools.
At a May 17 meeting, the board of trustees approved a $923,831 contract with Opening Technologies “to upgrade all eight elementary schools’ door hardware using the same specifications and scope that were developed for our other recent district hardware upgrades,” according to the agenda.
Previously, the elementary schools used “a simple magnetic lockdown device.”
The work is scheduled to be done during summer break and be completed by Aug. 10.
Measure P is a general obligation bond approved by local voters in the November 2008 election that authorized $150 million for school improvements.
Twenty-seven new teacher hires for next year
The hiring season is in full swing and Gilroy Unified School District has already secured the employment of 27 new teachers for the 2018-19 school term, according to the May 17 school board agenda’s personnel order.
The same list includes 15 resignations and three retirements from certificated staff at the end of the 2017-18 school term.
GUSD has hired an average of 75 new teachers per year over the last two school years.
Four school board spots go to Nov. ballot
Four trustee seats will be up for grabs in the Nov. 6 election, and the board approved a resolution “directing the county Board of Supervisors to call an election and to consolidate the election with governing board elections being held on the same day by the school or community college district having area in common with this district, thereby reducing the cost of the election.”
Terms are expiring for board president Linda Piceno and trustees Heather Bass, Patricia Midtgaard and Jaime Rosso.
Expenses for new GHS math building
The school board approved a $250,803 contract with One Work Place for furniture such as desks, chairs and tables for Gilroy High School’s new 20-classroom math building. The funds for purchase come from developer fees, according to the May 17 agenda.
The board also went ahead with a $135,788 contract with CDW-G, LLC for televisions and mounts for the 20 classrooms. Each classroom will have two televisions installed on mounts to be used for instructional purposes, according to the description. The purchase is funded by Measure E.
In Sept. 2016, the board approved the $14.5 million GHS math building project, which was funded via Measure E, the sale of the Wren Avenue property and developer fees.
Also at GHS, CDW-G, LLC was awarded a $313,891 contract to install a new PA system since the current one “has been failing for the past year and is no longer supported by the manufacturer or repairable,” according to the district report. The new PA is finded in part by a one-time insurance reimbursement of $281,000.
The same company will be installing a $48,638 PA system at Mount Madonna Continuation High School.
