Wichita school board to consider selection committee for new Southeast High School

Initial work on a new $60 million Southeast High School will get underway soon if the Wichita school board approves two items on its agenda Monday.

District leaders have recommended naming seven people – administrators and board members – to a selection committee that will choose a construction manager for the Southeast High project.

The committee would include: John Allison, superintendent; Bill Faflick, assistant superintendent for secondary schools; Julie Hedrick, director of facilities; Darren Muci, director of operations; Tom Powell, board attorney; and board members Barbara Fuller and Lynn Rogers.

The board recently approved a new bid process for Southeast High, called construction at-risk management, in which a general contractor chosen by the board will work with designers before various parts of the project go out for competitive bids. District officials and bond managers said the approach should save the district time and money and could open more jobs to small contractors.

Board members also will consider a $1.17 million contract with Unruh Excavating to complete preliminary ground work – rough grading and base paving – at the new Southeast High site, near 127th Street East and Pawnee.

Kenton Cox of Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture, the district’s bond manager, said the new Southeast High should open as scheduled in the fall of 2016.

Also on Monday’s school board agenda is a proposal for the district to buy four properties at Third and Oliver, near Robinson Middle School, to expand parking at the school. Cost for the four duplexes in the 400 block of North Bleckley is $229,000.

Board members also will hear a presentation from Terri Moses, the district’s executive director of safety and security, about new safety initiatives and improvements. The meeting is 6 p.m. Monday at the North High lecture hall, 1437 Rochester.

This story was originally published September 7, 2014 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Wichita school board to consider selection committee for new Southeast High School."