Upcoming Forums Detail Results from Safety Study of District 15 Facilities

Submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15

During the District 15 Board of Education’s December 10 meeting, the District’s architects will present the Board with the results of the District’s new 10-year life safety study that was performed on its facilities this summer.

Following that presentation, the Board will host four Community Communication Forums that will further detail the results of the survey and allow residents to provide their feedback.

“These study results—as well as the input we receive from residents during these upcoming forums—will significantly shape the way our schools—our actual brick and mortar facilities—will look and function for the foreseeable future,” said Scott Thompson, Ed.D., District 15’s superintendent of schools. “They will completely rearrange the way all of our building maintenance and repair projects are prioritized, and, in doing so, will establish the work we will need to do and the challenges we will need to overcome over the course of the next several years.”

The Community Communication Forums will be held at 7 p.m. on the dates specified below at each of the District’s four junior highs so that administrators can share more detailed study results that pertain to the specific schools served within each of those geographic areas.

District 15’s facilities and buildings are required to maintain State Board of Education regulations within the School Building Code and the Health Life Safety Code, in addition to occupational safety standards of the Illinois Department of Labor. These codes are maintained and regulated through life safety projects, and these projects are determined by a survey of the District’s facilities by an architect and engineer.

Districts are required to conduct these surveys every 10 years. Items that are surveyed include roofs, asphalt, asbestos abatements and other environmental issues; plumbing and water safety concerns; necessary upgrades to lighting, boilers and heating/ventilation/air conditioning systems; and other projects to increase energy efficiency and safety in our buildings. Once a survey is completed, the projects are put into a prioritized list according to the Health Life Safety Code.

The District’s last survey was completed in 2005, and while none of the recommended projects posed an immediate danger to students or staff, some critical concerns were listed. The District addressed those projects several years ago, but is still working to complete the remaining lower-priority recommendations outlined in the survey.

Those lower-priority concerns that have yet to be addressed have been included in the new life safety survey, which identifies new projects related to old mechanical systems, sanitary lines, and flooding issues at different schools.

Dr. Thompson said his goal moving forward is for the Board, the Administration, and the District 15 community to use the new life safety study to create a comprehensive facilities plan that will outline how the District intends to address its facilities needs for the next decade and beyond.