COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch Intermediate School District Superintendent Kris Jenkins told the B.I.S.D. Board of Education on Wednesday the renovation project at the Branch Area Careers Center is behind schedule due in part to snafus in getting permits from the State of Michigan.
She said the architects and the state have been going back and forth on the needed permits since February 19 and they have not heard back from the state since the first of July.
Jenkins says the construction manager is coming up with ways students can continue learning in their programs while the work is going on.
The work will include the installation of a new elevator, creating new classrooms in an existing mezzanine, adding a new counseling suite and reworking the existing kitchen. The project was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
In other business, the board approved a new two year contract with the Branch Intermediate Organization union.
The board went into a closed session to discuss negotiations with the B.I.O. They then came back into open session to ratify the master agreement which will run through June of 2023. The previous contract expired on June 30.
Terms call for certified and non-certified staff to get a three percent pay raise in the first year and a two-and-a-half percent increase in the second year.
In addition, Ken Norton was re-elected as the Board President while Mike Beckwith will be the Vice President.
The board met in the conference room at the B.I.S.D. Administrative Building on Morse Street for the first time since February of 2020 on Wednesday. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and protocols, they have previously met via Zoom or at the Waldron Learning Center cafeteria.
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