A leaky roof at the Valley Park building will have to remain in place for at least a year after Ketchikan School District officials threw out the sole bid to replace it.

Superintendent Robert Boyle said the bid was way over budget.

“It’s just one bid and it came in at nearly double of what the engineering estimates of the project would be,” he said.

Boyle said the engineer’s estimate was $1.3 million, and Concor Construction’s bid was $2.3 million. He said district maintenance staff will patch the existing roof and hope it doesn’t develop too many more leaks during the next year.

Boyle said the current roof’s installation process created holes in the moisture barrier.

“What we have is just a series of holes that are, now, the fabric is pulling apart,” he said. “The fabric is degenerated. It hasn’t held up correctly. We’ll have five or six leaks, we’ll patch those, (and) we’ll have five or six new ones. It’s not a catastrophe waiting to happen at this time. However it just won’t be fixable without an entire (new) roof.”

Valley Park houses two district schools, the Ketchikan Charter School and Tongass School of Arts and Sciences, also a charter school.

Boyle announced the roof problem in a memo to the Ketchikan School Board, which meets Wednesday in regular session.

NEW TEACHERS
Action items on Wednesday’s agenda include hiring four new teachers. If approved, Danny Robb will become the new high school welding and math teacher; Candice Robb will work with Native students who are struggling academically; Kathleen Coan will teach first and second grades at Tongass School; and Doris Loeser will be a counselor at Houghtaling Elementary School.

EMPLOYEE PAY RAISES
The board also will consider a new pay scale for nonrepresented employees. It would provide a 1-percent raise this year; and increases of $1,100 per level next year and $1,400 in 2014.

Approval of a new contract with district administrators also is on the agenda, with an executive session scheduled before a potential vote. The new contract would include a redesigned salary schedule, plus a $1,100 increase per level in 2013, and $1,400 in 2014.

Boyle said the proposed contract was approved by Ketchikan Leadership Organization union members.

“Typically what we’ll do with a negotiated agreement is that it doesn’t go in front of the board until it’s been ratified by the membership,” he explained.

The School Board meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Borough Assembly chambers at the White Cliff building. Time for public comment is scheduled at the beginning and end of the meeting.