Hudson School Board Charges School Board Member to Look at their own School Board Paperwork.

This odd story was just too politically weird to pass up. With school boards in complete control now, with little or no teacher input, the following dysfunctional body in Hudson should tell us where we’re headed educationally and administratively. Keep in mind, this was written by a school board member. Accountability…gone, unless you can pay for it. How is this even possible?

Hudson Patch: 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.

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 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.