The bid to construct the new Rivers Elementary School was approved March 3 at a called meeting of Fayette County Board of Education. Also at the meeting, the board heard a presentation on a salary study conducted for all employees in the school system.

The board approved a $9,908,000 low bid by Atlanta-based Hensler & Beavers General Contractors, Inc. for the construction of Rivers Elementary School. School system Construction Supervisor Klaus Darnell said in a Feb. 21 memo that Hensler & Beavers had not constructed school projects previously in Fayette County, but had completed several schools and additions in Gwinnett County and came highly rated by Gwinnett’s architect.

The board voted 4-1 in favor of awarding the contract. Board member Marion Key cast the opposing vote, stating after the meeting that Fayette County already has a sufficient number of elementary schools.

A total of seven bids were considered. Those ranged from the low bid by Hensler Beavers to a high bid of $10,906,000 by Swofford Construction, Inc.

The board later heard the results of a salary study performed by Dr. Dennis Fordham. The in-depth study provided a comparison and analysis of the salary compensation structure and gave recommendations for board consideration. Fordham narrowed the comparative focus of the study by examining the salary and compensation structures of eight other metro Atlanta school systems.

Fordham provided six recommendations for the board’s consideration. Those included maintaining the current structure of the teacher salary schedule and that of classified and administrative personnel.

Fordham suggested adjusting the process for placing new or existing employees on administrative schedules to make the district more competitive in seeking to fill vacancies, as in the case of an existing principal moving into a central office administrative position.

He recommended adding Occupational Therapist and Interpreter to the list of positions and suggested increasing the daily rate for substitute teachers.

He also recommended changing the grade placement for approximately two dozen staff positions, including registered nurses, whose pay is significantly lower than the average compared to the other school systems studied.

Superintendent John DeCotis after the presentation said the next step is to develop the budget.

“As we build the budget we can look at what can be done,” he said. “We should know more about the dollars in April after the legislative session.”