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VIDALIA, La. — The Concordia Parish School Board has finally reached an agreement with Don Barron Contractors Inc. of Farmerville to pay a lesser balance to close out the Monterey High School gym project because it was completed more than a year behind schedule.

The gym contract had been awarded by the school board in September 2020 for a little more than $3.5 million, which includes over $200,000 for building the parking lot. With a contracted completion date of July 4, 2022, school officials at first expressed they would’ve liked to see the gym open before the 2022 graduation, but it was completed a year behind schedule and 107 days behind an extension granted to contractors, said Marco Gonzales who was the Project Manager with Volkert Inc. at the time.

The contractors could legally forfeit approximately $500 per day for every day after the project deadline that the gym remains unfinished, he said.

The school board on Thursday voted to pay the remaining balance on that project of approximately $132,292 after being credited for damages for its tardiness.

The original closing cost was $185,792, said business affairs director Tom O’Neal.

The school board also agreed Thursday to advertise bids on the Monterey High School drainage issue that has long been discussed since the raising of the new gym.

Rainwater that spills over from the roof of the new gym into an alleyway between the gym and the school causes the school building to flood during heavy rain events.

Officials have spent months looking at the best and most cost-effective way to redirect the drainage.

In other matters, the finishing of new windows at Ferriday High School is also lagging slower than school officials would like. A new school year for Concordia Parish started last week, though Project Manager Keith Bridgham of Volkert said the project deadline is not until September.

“He’s been working there about three weeks but has not made a lot of progress,” school board member Fred Butcher said. “We want to pay him his money just like he’s working.”

The school board also celebrated two new graduates on Thursday, one each from Ferriday and Vidalia high schools, who earned their rights to graduate during the summer, Qutavia Johnson and Braylen Washington.

The school board approved a one-time Minimum Foundation Program stipend for certified school employees and non-certified support personnel. Certified workers will receive a stipend of $2,000 beginning on their Sept. 15th check while non-certified will receive a stipend of $1,000.

Louisiana legislature approved the additional funds requested by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in the 2022 regular session.

A sub-committee was approved to consider ways to address a needed gap in pay between principals, supervisors and directors’ positions to incentivize staff to work in higher-level positions. The committee was requested by school board member Dorothy Parker and will include her, Angela Hayes, Rhonda Moore and O’Neal.

School board member Derrick Carson abstained from voting on the committee motion and it passed by a vote of 7-0.

The school board also voted 7-1 to add a food service manager position for someone who would travel to different schools across the district to provide support to other food service workers as needed. While it is not a new position, Butcher voted nay stating that a new job description is needed first because no other food service manager is required to travel.

School Board President Lisette Foreman was absent on Thursday.