BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville School Board approved the construction manager and architect firms it will use for the construction of its next junior high or high school building during a meeting Monday.

The district will start moving forward with contracts for Flintco Construction Management and Hight-Jackson Associates in a 6-0 vote.

Grant Lightle abstained from the vote after noting he felt the process used by the board to choose the companies didn’t provide enough information for him to vote confidently.

The board has yet to decide how it will handle capacity issues at Bentonville High School. The construction of a fourth junior high, ninth-grade center or second high school are options that have been mentioned in recent years.

A 6.7 millage increase election for a second high school failed June 26.

A “request for quotation” process was used to select the construction manager and architect for the future project.

The process asked architects and construction managers to submit proposals regarding how they’ll support district efforts for the bond issue.

A team of district officials interviewed final candidates during two different rounds. One board member was included in each round.

Five companies applied for the construction manager contract. Two companies were moved to the interview process. Fifteen applied for the architect contract with four moving to the first round and two to the second-round interviews.

Lightle said he would have used a process that provided all board members with more information.

“Personally, I don’t know if I have enough information to make this decision,” Lightle said prior to the votes.

Travis Riggs, board president, said board members have to trust that other members vetted the issue.

“We had other members of the board asking those tough questions,” Riggs said.

Wendi Cheatham, board member, also thought the process limited members’ scope of information.

“I became a school board candidate because I wanted to be more involved in making informed decisions,” Cheatham said.

Every board member didn’t have to be in each interview, Cheatham said. She said there could have been a better job of relaying the information to every member afterward.

Cheatham added she felt both of the companies would do a good job on the project.

Riggs said members are always able to ask questions regarding information.

“If you have to, we don’t want to send an email to every board member because of FOI reasons,” Riggs said. He said board members can field questions through Mike Poore, district superintendent.

Flintco is completing the construction of a third junior high school near Willowbrook Elementary School. It will be open in fall 2013.

Paul Wallace, district facilities director, said Hight-Jackson has worked with the district on projects for nearly 25 years.

District officials will draft a contract with the two firms. The cost of fees will be determined at that time. The contract will come before the whole board for approval. If it is denied, the board has the option to speak to their second and third choice for the project.