The St. Tammany Parish School Board on Thursday accepted the $49.6 million bid of Roy Anderson Corp. to rebuild Salmen High School.

The company was not the lowest bidder on the project; the lowest bidder was JRDKS, LLC at $41.7 million. However, that company’s bid was rejected at the committee as a whole meeting last week for not meeting the responsive bid requirements. The bid bond was written on a company, Infinity Surety, that is not qualified to issue surety bonds under Louisiana law pertaining to public works projects, according to Harry Pastuszek, Jr., counsel for the School Board.

Dan Buras, attorney for JRDKS, said the rejection was based on a technicality the company can easily remedy if the board would consider rebidding the project. He also raised the question of funding for the project, another reason the bids could be rejected, saying nothing has been given in writing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for the project. Bruce Shreve, attorney for Roy Anderson Corp., disagreed, saying Anderson was the lowest responsive responsible bidder after going through the bid process and has met all criteria for getting the job.

Pastuszek and members of the board addressed the issues raised by Buras, saying FEMA has been involved in the project from the beginning and numerous conference calls and meetings have taken place with the agency. FEMA will pay for the majority of the project and has offered assistance in locating funding sources for the alternate plan that will raise the school above the new requirements of the flood plain, an amount not covered by FEMA.

During the discussion, board members also raised questions as to the exact bid process. Cameron Tipton, lead construction supervisor for the board, said the specific process is outlined in every project sent out for bid, listing exact requirements bidders need to complete.

Pastuszek said the criteria for rebidding had not been met and the process had been completed, according to law.

In other business, Mandeville High School received the Siemans Award for Advanced Placement. John Warner Smith also made presentations for a non-profit program, “Education’s Next Horizon,” and Dr. John Swang gave a report on the institution of energy savings initiatives that resulted in an energy savings of 14.7 percent last year.

The board also approved the following recommendations made from the committee as a whole meeting:

• Authorized Superintendent Gayle Sloan to modify the length of expulsion for students who successfully complete the 2008 pilot summer school session at Operation Jumpstart and permit the students to return to an appropriate regular school program at the discretion of the superintendent with conditions set by the superintendent.

• Accepted the Mandeville High School end zone bleachers and ADA modifications as substantially complete.

• Accepted the Pearl River High School visitor bleachers as substantially complete.

• Accepted revisions to the pupil progression plan for 2008-2009.