WEST SPRINGFIELD — The enclosed connector between Tatham School’s main building and its modular classrooms won’t be built until next spring or summer.
School Finance and Operations Chief Adam Tarquini told the School Committee on Sept. 10 that the project remains a priority, but a lack of interest from contractors has led to a delay.
“We put this out to bid in the springtime. Unfortunately, we didn’t receive any bids,” Tarquini said. “The plan is to put it back out to bid with a completion [date] of next spring, [or] probably the summertime.”
The project has been in the works for a year and a half. It was identified as an improvement to be funded by federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds in the spring of 2023. Initially, design work was delayed by questions over whether the new structure — an enclosed hallway leading from the existing back door of the school to the door of the four-classroom modular suite — would need a costly fire-suppression system.
Those concerns were resolved by the start of this summer with an exemption from the town’s building inspector, said Tarquini, and he had hoped to get the work done at that time. But when he put the project out to bid, there were no contractors interested in it.
He said he suspects that builders were busy on other public projects, as ESSER funds and other coronavirus relief grants in every community across the nation are all expiring at the same time, resulting in a scramble to spend the money. Tarquini said he will reach out to several contractors who toured the building and expressed interest in the bid specifications, and ask why they didn’t end up submitting bids, to see if a new bid offering would be successful.
If the project can be bid and awarded before the end of 2024, “We’ll still be able to use our ESSER dollars,” Tarquini said, even if the construction itself doesn’t occur until 2025.
Tarquini said he would like to schedule the work to be done during a vacation week or over the summer, so that the contractor can work during the day and “we’re not paying second-shift rates for the work.”
Tatham has used the four modular classrooms for about five years. They host two classes each of grades 3 and 5. Since the modulars don’t connect directly to the school building, students in those rooms have to be escorted to and from class by an adult. If a student has to leave class while the teacher is teaching — to be picked up by a parent or to be sent to the nurse, for example — an office clerk or the principal may have to take time to serve as the escort between the two buildings. Having an indoor connector would allow students to make the trip unescorted, and would also make it more comfortable on days with cold or inclement weather.
