Kyle Hayden, assistant superintendent of business and operations for the Lawrence school district, addresses the school board regarding an amendment to the contract with Combes Construction. The amendment cut short Combes' work at New York Elementary School after a child was injured at the site.

The Lawrence school board approved a plan for the city to take over inspections for the bond construction projects that have yet to begin, and the plan will go the City Commission for its vote on Tuesday.

If approved by the commission, the six schools that are scheduled to begin construction in the spring — Pinckney, Deerfield, Schwegler, Sunflower, Broken Arrow and Prairie Park elementaries — will undergo the city permit and inspection process. Lawrence schools Superintendent Rick Doll brought the motion, and the board passed it unanimously without further discussion.

“The district administration met with the mayor and city officials last week to come up with a tentative plan to re-engage the city process,” Doll said.

Inspections at the sites of the district’s 21 bond construction projects were done in part by Douglas County and private inspection firms. An investigation by the Lawrence Journal-World found the Douglas County inspector charged with overseeing a large portion of the construction was not authorized to enforce building codes for the school projects.

Under the new plan, the school district would pay 50 percent of the usual fee of the traditional city inspection process for the six schools. Private inspectors will continue for the four ongoing projects at Kennedy, Sunset Hill and Woodlawn elementaries, and Lawrence High School.

Attention was drawn to the inspection process after a child was severely injured last month at the construction site of New York Elementary when an uninstalled, 350-pound safety fence reportedly fell on him. School district officials announced last week that the district had cut short its contract with Combes Construction Co., the contractor at New York Elementary, and the board unanimously approved an amendment to the construction plan at its meeting Monday.

Prior to the public meeting, the board met in an executive session to consult with its attorney — a closed meeting protected by attorney-client privilege — and board president Vanessa Sanburn read a prepared statement detailing the dismissal of Combes Construction.

“The failure of Combes Construction, our prime construction contractor for New York Elementary School, to protect the worksite and maintain temporary fencing around construction areas is simply unacceptable,” Sanburn read. “We are therefore removing the final piece of the New York Elementary School project — improving the school’s connection to the city sewer — from the Combes contract.”

An inspection of New York Elementary is planned for Friday, and a commissioning agent will evaluate several aspects of the project, such as mechanical and electrical work, said Kyle Hayden, assistant superintendent of business and operations for the district.

Kyle Hayden, assistant superintendent of business and operations for the Lawrence school district, addresses the school board regarding an amendment to the contract with Combes Construction. The amendment cut short Combes' work at New York Elementary School after a child was injured at the site.

“New York will be one of those where we look at our services very carefully,” Hayden said, noting that all school projects go through the commissioning evaluation. “It’s making sure that what was designed is functioning the way it’s supposed to.”

Combes’ contract was amended to account for work that had already been done, with payments of $15,000 for concrete modifications on New Jersey Street and $1,390 for fencing modifications being added. The sewer work was also removed from the contract, decreasing the value of the contract by $35,000. The net deduction from the contract was $18,610. The contractor that will perform the sewer system work has not yet been determined, Doll said.

The City Commission will consider the inspection plan at its meeting at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The school board’s next meeting will be will 7 p.m. on Oct. 12 in the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.