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Greenville High School will soon receive an upgraded fire alarm system to replace the campus’s ailing system.

The Butler County School Board voted on May 9, unanimously accepting bid results to install a new fire alarm system at the school.

According to Butler County Schools Superintendent Joseph Eiland, Harris Security Systems submitted the winning bid for system replacement, to the tune of $163,291.

“I’d like to recommend the board approve the bid results for a fire alarm for Greenville High School,” Eiland said at the meeting. “We only had one bid from Harris Security Systems for $163,291.”

Board members expressed their curiosity over the lack of other bidders and Eiland explained the system was fortunate to receive the bid at such a low cost.

“We were fortunate to get it at this cost, especially because the last two appraisals we had from individuals were up to $350,000 to $400,000.”

Board member Michael Nimmer informed members of issues with the school’s current fire alarm panel.

“The fire alarm panel there does not work anymore and it’s out of date,” Nimmer said. “Well, it works but it is having to be piece milled together and it could soon quit working. It cannot be repaired. So it needs to be replaced.”

According to Nimmer, the panel contains all the fire alarm sensors and calls the fire department when a fire is detected. Replacing the sensors alone can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Just to give you an idea, the movie theater is a fraction of the size of the high school, in 2007 [replacing] the panel alone was $140,000 then,” Nimmer said. “So I’m surprised at this [bid] price. I think it is a really good price.”

The board also entered executive session near the end of the meeting, to conduct student disciplinary hearings. Two students were expelled.  

The board is not permitted to release any information regarding the expulsions. No other information regarding the hearings is available at this time.

In other business, the board

• Approved the system’s personnel report including a resignation, retirements, voluntary transfers, employments and supplements;
• Voted to approve salary schedule revisions and coaching supplements; and
• Entered an executive session for student disciplinary hearts with no outcome announced afterwards.