The process for the Fort Dodge Community School District transportation renovation project resumed at Monday’s school board meeting.

Giardino Construction, of Polk City, was awarded the project with a low bid of $682,600. That company will handle the second phase of renovations at the district’s bus barn on the north side of Fort Dodge. It includes heating and cooling system work, installation of LED lighting and outdoor sprinklers.

Board member Brian Pederson expressed some concerns with recent recommendations from Des Moines area engineering firm ISG, which assists the district with similar project bidding.

“It seems the bids from ISG come in well below original cost projections,” he remarked. “Obviously, it is great to have these items below projections, but I am concerned they are so far below. I just want to make sure we are taking a good look at the entirety of the scale of all the bids coming in.”

“ISG does weigh many factors and tends to give us plenty of wiggle room for projects when they look at bids,” said Ryan Utley, director of buildings and grounds.

Superintendent Josh Porter agreed and added that ISG’s specifications have had contingencies built in.

Architectural discussion was not limited to the transportation renovation project finalization. Terry Allers, owner and principal architect with Allers Associates Architects, spoke with the board during the public comment session.

“We’ve noticed many bids going to out-of-town firms, and honestly, it comes across somewhat disheartening,” Allers admitted. “We are your neighbors, and we would love the opportunity to work on more projects with the board.

“We would just ask in the future to be looked at,” he added. “We desire this type of professional relationship with the board and district.”

In other action items, the board:

• Approved a bid of $60,543 per vehicle for two Chevy Suburbans for use in the district in 2025-2026 from Kemna Auto Center of Fort Dodge.

• Approved 2025-26 academic year Chromebook purchases for students in grades 3-5 and 6-10. According to Kevin Bailey, the district’s director of information technology, it is a yearly buy for student devices — 550 go to grades 6-10 and 180 go to grades 3-5.

• Approved professional learning from the 95 Percent Group for 2025-26. According to district curriculum director Teri Boezinger, it is a continuation for foundational skills development for teachers. Total cost is $104,522.50, with funding coming from the teaching budget.

• Approved professional learning from Wit and Wisdom. Boezinger said it is also year two for knowledge-building curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade and a beginning point for middle school in 2025-26. Total cost is $66,500 and comes from the teaching budget, as well.

• Approved decodable reader purchases for third-graders for 2025-26. “This should be one of the final requests for literacy-related components for a while,” Boezinger said. “They hadn’t been available when we made original purchases last spring.” Total cost is $15,020.78 and will come from Title I funds.

The board also heard updates from Feelhaver Elementary Principal Sara Fitzgerald and high school Principal Staci Laird. Fitzgerald shared more news of improvements in literacy as did Laird. Laird also discussed work the high school building is doing with an overarching goal of employability skills for students in the future.

In Porter’s superintendent update, he said final work continues on Dodger Stadium with a May 22 ribbon cutting planned. He also shared excitement with the overall improvements made districtwide in literacy.

“It’s still a focus,” he said. “I know we have put a lot of money into this, but when you see what Feelhaver and the elementary buildings are doing success-wise as an example, it is so especially important that we have moved forward in that direction. It will only get better down the road.”

Board member Diane Pratt reflected on good experiences with the district’s Sixth-Grade Gold Pod after school program and mentoring program supervisor, Glenda Paulson.

“I’d been invited to the gold pod gamechanger hour,” she said. “They have no phones, no computers, or so forth. They have board games, magnet work and so much more. They are really building social skills.

“Glenda shared some of her experiences with mentorship with me,” she added. “It means a lot towards the culture of what is happening in each building. With what the program is doing, we have kept 29 of the 31 new teachers from 2024-25 and 23 of the 27 new hires from 2023-24. We have been wanting to retain teachers, and with programs like this, we are doing so.”

The next meeting of the Fort Dodge Community School Board is 6 p.m. May 27.