BCSD Board purchases more furniture, approves asbestos remediation

Rendering of furniture and finishes for Fox Lane High School Library and Media Commons. (BBS ARCHITECTS graphics)

Rendering of furniture and finishes for Fox Lane Middle School Steam Lab.

By JEFF MORRIS

The Bedford Central Board of Education met twice last week to authorize expenditures as part of the district’s bond construction project, including asbestos removal from the Fox Lane High School boys locker room.

Leading up to a presentation by Jaclyn Bashen of BBS Architects, trustee Steven Matlin noted that this summer the Fox Lane campus is a “full-on construction zone.” He said everything is on schedule for school to open as planned in September. Most of the work being done over the summer is demolition work in both the high school and middle school, Matlin said.

Bashen displayed renderings of the new furniture and finishes that are proposed for use in Fox Lane high and middle schools, which she said it was hoped the board would vote on by the end of the presentation. 

The reason the board was being asked to vote on purchasing new furniture at this time, said Matlin, “is if we order the chairs and the furniture now, prior to Sept. 1, they will honor this year’s pricing. If we wait, the prices will go up, and it’s unknown how much, especially with the tariffs being unknown at this point in time. So we thought we’d push this ahead, probably a little bit sooner than we wanted — than we were otherwise planning on doing — to hopefully get a better price on the furniture.”

The renderings Bashen used showed furniture from a few different manufacturers, with a heavy use of “Fox Lane red” for chair seats and architectural accents. The high school was broken down into an Area A and an Area B. Area A consists of both the large and small dining commons, the full library, the media center, three large group instructional spaces, the full guidance suite, some flexible spaces, some art department offices and a faculty conference room. The total cost of furniture for Area A is $942,042.

Area B is the athletic portion of the high school, including the locker rooms, a wellness center, storage for sports equipment, coaches’ offices, and a trainers suite. The total for Area B is $276,299, and the total for the whole high school is $1.2 million.

At Fox Lane Middle School, said Bashen, a much smaller package is needed, with a total cost of $344,034. She said that does not include furniture for the Music Exploration room; the district is still discussing whether existing furnishings can be reused. 

The total for new furniture in both schools is $1,562,376. Bashen said the original Phase 2 budget for furniture and equipment was $1,709,671, which puts them about $150,000 under budget.

Asked when the furniture would be delivered, Bashen said they are working with a furniture vendor who is aware the project has phased stages, and they will have manufacturers hold on to or store items until the appropriate phase is complete. Matlin said they had actually looked into “whether it was cheaper to order it now and store it, versus waiting for the price increase and doing it that way — and this was cheaper.”

It turned out a formal motion was not needed to authorize the purchase, but board members all indicated they were in favor of moving ahead.

In his introductory remarks, Matlin said two things of note had come up in the bond project: a small change order to create a temporary office space for the physical education staff in the locker rooms, because their existing office space had been taken out; and another change order needed because some asbestos was found behind the walls and under the floors of the existing locker room, and a little bit in the library, during demolition. He said that was under review by the contractor, the contract management team and the architect, and he hoped to have a change order resolution shortly. Board President Gilian Klein assured the board that what they’re working on is a clearly outlined, safe plan for asbestos abatement. As it turned out, the resolutions Matlin mentioned were ready within two days, leading to the board holding a special meeting at 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1.

There were two change orders before the board at that meeting, both from Piazza, Inc. and for abatement in the boys locker room at Fox Lane High School. One was for an additional $75,000, and the other an additional $47,500. In both cases the final cost had been negotiated downward, with the first having originally been proposed for $82,658 and the second for $57,968.

According to the accompanying documentation, in the first instance, the work involved removal and disposal of approximately 5,000 square feet of floor tile and associated mastic, and disposal and removal of 400 linear feet of pipe insulation and fittings leading down to wet walls. A note confirmed there was no asbestos waterproofing at the main showers and bathrooms. The work covered under the second change order included approximately 550 square feet of ceramic ceiling on plaster in showers, texture plaster in an equipment room/slop sink closet, with a ceramic plaster ceiling about 5-inches thick. Another note indicated that all plaster ceilings must be removed under abatement, although the tile and mortar have tested negative.