The Tamaqua Area School Board addressed the following topics on Monday night.

Grants

Dr. Stephen Toth shared grant numbers that Tamaqua received over the past eight months, dating back to March 2020.

• Total of $2.77 million in grants; some standard, some competitive.

• School safety grants, $105,000

• COVID-19 relief grants, $201,143

• Between COVID-19 and school safety, $832,880

Projects

The board approved the Capital Project Plan. Superintendent Ray Kinder and the board spoke about some of those projects during last week’s committee workshop meeting.

In October, AEM Architects proposed a total project budget, which included massive renovations of each district building, tallied over $77 million. The proposal included multiple phases of construction that would last roughly a decade until every bit is completed.

However, the proposal featured many unnecessary or nonurgent suggestions. Over the past few months, the school board sifted through the information and prioritized AEM’s suggestions.

“Our recommendations remain the same,” Kinder said. “We are seeking the ability to contact AEM Architects to set up a process of creating a bid with a base bid being building entry, upgrading fire and security alarms, exterior lighting as well as some ADA ramps and door hardware.”

- Justin Carlucci