Dealing with conditions beyond their control

Increased costs and limited availability are impacting some of the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Community School's purchases.

A bus ordered earlier this year will cost more than the original bid price. School Bus Sales Co. notified H-M-S that Blue Bird Body Company has implemented a supplemental invoice program which will increase the cost of buses already ordered.

The additional cost for H-M-S is $3,500. School Bus Sales stated they are "only passing down the exact amount of the supplemental invoice to our end customer as we are not trying to make profit on this unfortunate series of events."

Although board members expressed concern at the July 11 meeting about additional increases for the bus scheduled to be delivered this fall, they agreed to pay the $3,500.

The board also voted to purchase a John Deere F1575 commercial mower with cab, 72-inch front-mount deck, 60-inch rotary broom and 60-inch heavy duty snow blower at a cost of $48,833. AgriVision Equipment Group is the only bidder with a mower in stock.

New Tech submitted the lowest bid ($46,231) for a Kubota mower, but cannot deliver one until next spring. C&B Operations does not have any John Deere F1575 mowers on their lots and it could be 6-10 months before they could deliver one. The quote they provided for a F1585 last November was $52,360.

The new mower will be used at the high school and its current mower will replace a 1995 Kubota at the middle school.

The district's ability to purchase smaller vehicles in the future will also be impacted. According to discussion, only hybrid or electric vehicles will be available for bid through the state system.

"For small vehicles we will have to go to dealerships or go to hybrid or electric," said Superintendent Patrick Carlin. "In some instances that may make sense."

To update curriculum, the district is purchasing science materials from McGraw-Hill at a cost of $30,777. The materials include anatomy, biology and advanced biology, chemistry, environmental science, physics and physical science textbooks.

A similar curriculum purchase from Amplify includes complete classroom kits and activity books for grades PK-4 at a cost of $39,922.

"We wanted to come out of this year without any outdated curriculum," Carlin said.

In other business, Ahlers & Cooney, P.C., of Des Moines, will provide legal services to the district. Fees for services provided by the firm's Education Law group will be charged on an hourly basis.

Ahlers & Cooney has represented the district as bond counsel in the past.

"They have so many people with expertise and seem to be on the cutting edge," Carlin noted.

In other business, maximum balances for depositories of district funds were established. The FY21 audit report noted that required limits were not included in a previous resolution designating the financial institutions in which district funds can be deposited.