July 21, 2026
School board approves alternate bid for HVAC replacement at LaGrange High Auditorium
Troup County school board shifts LaGrange High auditorium HVAC job to Jackson Services with a $138,000 bid after original low bidder withdraws; work may extend past school start.
Tommy Murphy
On July 16, the Troup County Board of Education approved a late addition made after its work session on Monday. The board approved a second bid for the planned HVAC replacement at LaGrange High School (LHS).
In June, the board approved a recommendation from Superintendent Rachel Hazel to replace the HVAC system at the LHS auditorium for $112,415.12 based on a quote provided by Air Force Heating & Air.
The current HVAC units for the auditorium are over 30 years old.
Through the request-for-proposals process, Air Force came back as the lowest bidder, which was accepted. After the approval, the company informed the school district that they were unable to offer the quoted amount for the project, Hazel said.
“Because this is a project that we need to start work on, we did go back through the bids that we had and got the second-lowest bid, which is Jackson Services, with whom we have done work with in the past, and we know that they can complete this project,” Hazel said.
Jackson Services provided a bid of $138,000, which Hazel said is lower than the quote that the Air Force provided when they came back and said what they would need to do the project.
Because of the delay, the project might not be completed by the time school starts, but school officials are hopeful that it will be.
“There is a possibility that they can have this done when school starts, but the current system has a band-aid on it right now, and it is working,” said Dr. Pennie Tucker, TCSS assistant superintendent of operations.
Tucker explained that it's difficult to install roof-mounted HVAC units of this size because they have to be installed with big cranes.
“It’s difficult getting the big cranes in there to work with these once school starts and everybody's in the parking lots. It's hard to deal with the cranes, so our goal is before school, and Jackson Services is really going to work hard and said it is a possibility they can have it done,” Tucker said.
The project will install four 15-ton HVAC units.
Tucker noted that there was previous discussion of potentially waiting on the new HVAC units, as a renovation or replacement of the LHS Auditorium is in the works for the upcoming ESPLOST. Hazel previously explained that it would likely be several years before it comes to fruition, as the planned new elementary schools for Hogansville and West Point are higher priorities.
Tucker said that if the new units are not needed for the new auditorium, then they can be utilized elsewhere.
