QUESTION: I am a past local contractor for the Alamance-Burlington school system and was looking at the board meeting agenda for Tuesday’s meeting and noticed several contracts for mold remediation.
ABSS requires me to send in a form certifying that my employers are not on any state or national Sex Offender registries. I also have to provide proof of insurance for workers’ compensation; bodily injury and property damage; automobile liability and property damage; and professional liability. Why were those requirements not included in the contracts that were approved Tuesday for Builder Services?
ANSWER: The required disclosures and minimum insurance coverage were included in the contract with LRC Indoor Air Testing and Research that school board members approved at their work session on Tuesday.
However, the minimum insurance coverage and “Lunsford Act” disclosures – a state law that prohibits registered sex offenders from being on school property – was not included with the contract for Builder Services that school board members approved Tuesday (see separate story, this edition).
ABSS officials furnished copies of the insurance certificate for Builder Services, as well as a signed certificate stating that none of its employees or contracted personnel are registered sex offenders to The Alamance News Wednesday evening.
The Jessica Lunsford Act, passed in 2008, allows a registered sex offender to be on school grounds, without being charged with a felony, only if he or she is the parent of a student; is a student; or is on school property that is being used as a polling place during an election and is there strictly for the purpose of voting.
School system contractors must sign a “Lunsford Act” disclosure of sorts, acknowledging that it has ensured any employees and/or the company’s owners have undergone criminal background and sex offender registry checks.
The Lunsford Act form also requires vendors and contractors to certify that no registered sex offenders will “engage in any service” on school property, or at school-sponsored events, except for those individuals who are solely on school property to pick up or delivery materials; or are solely coming to a school administrative office, loading dock, closed school, or a school construction site.
ABSS also furnished a copy of the certificate of liability insurance for Builder Services, which is effective from August 4, 2023 to August 4, 2024 and provides up to $1 million coverage for commercial liability; $2 million for product liability; 1 million automotive liability; $5 million umbrella liability; and $1 million in workers’ compensation and employer liability coverage, among other provisions.
The insurance coverage levels for LRC – as outlined in the contract that the school board approved at its latest meeting – are similar.
THE PUBLIC ASKS: Have a question about a matter of public record? Call The Alamance News at (336) 228-7851; write to the newspaper at P.O. Box 431, Graham, NC 27253; or e-mail alamancenews@mail.com.
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