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Muncy School Board hears from company

MUNCY — Although the Muncy School District still is in the design phase of its upcoming renovation and construction projects, the school board has been listening to various construction management groups at meetings.

Presenting at the meeting Monday were members of the Foreman Group.

One of six companies owned by the group, their construction management company has been around for 26 years, Phillip Foreman, president, said.

The company was the architect and construction manager on projects done to Muncy’s elementary school.

The company offers a non-traditional approach that cuts the position of a general contractor to save costs, Foreman said.

“I am not saying all general contractors are bad,” he said. “But based on the state law process most are forced to use, they have to take the lowest bidder.”

The traditional approach uses a general contractor who must choose four sub-contractors to complete their specialized work.

Foreman chooses at least five sub-contractors, cuts out the need for a general contractor so that sub-contractors can bid directly to the school district and eliminates the bid-shopping process, Foreman said.

“The problem with the traditional approach is that general contractors get the lowest bids and adds them all up,” Foreman explained. “After the general contractor knows he is the lowest bidder, he will go back and renegotiate for a lower price.”

The board also voted to approve a new course in music technology. “We had the opportunity to make some shifts and add an elective,” Kimberly Hamilton, assistant to the superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said.

In other business they unanimously voted to adopt the 2017-18 school calendar and to approve an out-of-state field trip for the Future Business Leaders of America to Darien Lake Amusement Park in Corfu, New York, at no cost to the district.

Voting were Mary Bennardi, Connie Coyner, Ty Fry, Scott McLean, Rhondel Moyle, Lisa Sleboda, Robert Titman and Sarah Woodward. Justin Reis was absent.

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