Salem Schools Superintendent Sean Kirkland gave updates on the status of the new $57 million K-8 school building during the board of education’s February meeting.

“Things are moving along fairly quickly,” said Kirkland.

During his report Kirkland said that the request for qualifications process was already under way, and the district had received packets from 17 architects and engineers, which average “about 80 pages,” in length. Kirkland said each of these packets is then graded by the district in accordance with a rubric to a maximum of 85 points, with the “last 15 points controlled by the state,” and the three highest scoring applicants moving forward to the next step of the process.

“We rank ours, turn them into the state; they rank them with the addition of those 15 points; and then they let us know who won,” said Kirkland.

Kirkland said the three firms currently being considered were FMD Architects, GPD Group, and SHP Leading Design. The district will complete pre-interviews with each firm so the contractors can “get a sense of what [the district] is looking for.” After these interviews are complete the firms are re-scored with Kirkland and Treasurer Mike Douglas each having one vote, while the state has two.

Kirkland said that the same process was conducted to decide which company would conduct the actual construction.

“That exact same process happens for the CMR or Construction Management of Risk, which is basically the construction team,” said Kirkland.

Kirkland said the district was currently “in the middle of that process,” and that the request for qualifications had already been issued and received three responses. Kirkland explained that while the top three are selected to move on, the district and state still had to complete the scoring process.

Kirkland is was happy with the submissions the district had received –two are among the largest CMR firms in the country.

He also provided an update on the status of the district’s wellness center project. Kirkland said all required permits were approved and site work was scheduled to begin within the next two weeks, with the building to be delivered by March 29.

The meeting also saw the approval of several personnel and administrative items.

Personnel matters approved included: the retirement of Judy Colbert after 34 years as a teacher and administrator for Salem City Schools at the Junior High School, Reilly Elementary School and Southeast Elementary School; the list of workers for Reilly Family Enrichment Night being held March 4-7; the appointment of Alessandro Morano of Italy as the Council on Standards for International Education Travel Exchange students for the 2024-2025 school year; the resignation of cashier Vicky Steves; unpaid leaves of absence for secretary Elizabeth Cole, from Feb. 26-28; and Ryan Powell for Feb. 12-13; the list of workers for Buckeye Family reading night to be held 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. March 6; the retirement of Daryl Hiltbrand after 15 years as a custodian at Salem High School and Southeast Elementary School; athletic supplementals for the spring season; the hire of Toma Hannan as summer maintenance help; and workers for the boys basketball tournaments.

Administrative matters approved included: the college credit plus memorandum of understanding between Kent State University and the Salem City School District for the 2024-2025 school year; open enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year with applications due no later than May 1 for optimal consideration for approval; the renewal of membership in the Ohio High School Athletic Association; ACCESS agreement contracts for the fiscal year 2025; the memorandum of understanding between Youngstown State University’s College Credit Plus Dual Enrollment Program and Salem City School District for the 2024-2025 school year; a resolution regarding amounts and rates for the 2024-2025 fiscal year; the Kent State University Rising Scholars Agreement between Kent State University and the Salem City School District for Sept. 1 through May 31, 2024; The field trip to Washington D.C. for government students March 13-15; participation by the Salem High School Academic Challenge Varsity Team in the Small School National Quiz Tournament April 26-28, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois; and appropriation additions.

The Salem Board of Education will meet next at 7 p.m. March 18.