School District Charges School Board Member $428.54 To See Documents Related To Hoffman Construction Hire

In February your Hudson School Board approved signing a contract with Hoffman Construction for “pre-referendum” architectural services regarding secondary space solutions.  Board President Holland gave a report to the Board stating six firms applied and two firms were considered, DLR Group and Hoffman Construction.  He stated that Hoffman’s price for services was $77,000 and DLR Group’s price was $188,000.  Mr. Holland commented that the decision was a “no brainer.”  Based on Mr. Holland’s assertions, your Board voted unanimously to approve the Hoffman contract.

Subsequently it was discovered that the district had not required either firm to submit a written proposal.  However, DLR did submit their services in writing, while Hoffman did not.  Since there was such a large spread between the two proposals and because Hoffman’s proposal was not in writing I wanted to confirm that both firms were bidding on the same services.  I had some questions regarding the process used to arrive at Hoffman as the lowest priced option.  I submitted a request to Superintendent Bowen-Eggebratten for information.  I asked to see paperwork from the original six responding companies, clarification on how six was reduced to two, and what paperwork was provided to DLR and Hoffman so they knew what specifications they were bidding on.

I received the following response.  I will be able to obtain the information I asked for if I submit a check for $428.54 to the school district.  This fee is to pay for location, retrieval and copying of documents.  Alternatively, I can schedule a time to visit the administrative offices and review the documents instead of receiving a copy of them.  If I choose to “review” them the cost will be $311.04.  It appears district policy is to charge sitting school board members to access information board members are entitled to review.