Kennett board approves roofing awards, Chartwells food contract and $1.2M grant application; Greenwood construction delayed by archaeology work

At its May 13 meeting, the Kennett Consolidated School District board approved several major facilities and operations items: rescinding a prior roofing agreement, awarding new contracts, approving a food service contract, submitting a $1.2 million grant resolution for building automation work, and signing PlanCon Part F documents for Greenwood Elementary while acknowledging an archaeology-related delay on a sewer installation.

Procurement and roofing: administration recommended rescinding an earlier award to Garland Roofing and awarding replacement roofing work to the lowest responsible Costars bidders. Administration described an escalation in construction pricing and noted that infrared scans and line-item allowances are included to minimize unexpected change orders. The board approved the rescission and award; packet materials list a Jotan Roofing bid for Kennett High School of $4,194,947 (as presented in the board packet). Staff cautioned that the Mary D. Lane bid figure in the packet should be reviewed in the final contract paperwork due to formatting inconsistencies in the packet.

Food service: following a public procurement process required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Chartwells (Compass Group/Chartwells) was recommended by the selection team and approved by the board for the 2024–25 school year. The vendor provided a revenue guarantee for the next year and the contract includes performance indicators and annual negotiation points.

Grants and PlanCon: the board adopted a resolution requesting $1,200,000 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority for improvements to the Kennett High School building automation system and designated Mark T. Tracy as the authorized official to execute grant documents. The board also approved PlanCon Part F construction documents for Greenwood Elementary so the district will be ready to file if the state PlanCon moratorium is lifted; meanwhile a Phase 2 archeological study delayed Greenwood’s sewer installation by roughly one month to six weeks pending a decision from the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office.

School resource officers and property sale: the board approved a three‑year fee schedule to fund two school resource officers (one each from Kennett Square PD and Southern Chester County Regional PD) and approved a resolution to proceed with the sale process for the Bridal School Farm property (listed at the higher of two appraisals). Administration said a final sale agreement will come to the board and county court approval will be required.

Next steps: staff will finalize roofing contracts and close procurement, execute Chartwells contract documents with PDE-required terms, submit the PSFIP grant application and provide updates on the Greenwood archeology report and sewer remediation plan.