Roofs, Boilers and Fields Top BOE Repair List

Leaking roofs, boilers in need of repair and a field marked with sinkholes top the school system’s list of priority repair projects.

Board of Education Facilities Committee Chairwoman Jane Clancy briefed her colleagues during Tuesday evening’s BOE meeting that her committee had started developing a list of capital projects for the system to tackle. The development of the list comes as BOE members and candidates continue to debate the fate of the district’s almost empty capital reserve account. In December, the school district’s auditor announced that the account, which funds various capital projects, stands at $896.

Clancy said the list places roof replacement and repair along with boiler replacement at the top of the priority list. The BOE has long discussed the state of the district’s roofs, including placing roof replacement as a key part of the solar panel proposal.

Clancy said her committee identified priority items as:

• The roof at Lincoln School.
• The roof over gym five at Westfield High School.
• The roof over two classrooms and the offices at Tamaques School.
• The roof over the girls locker room at Edison Intermediate School.
• Repairing the parking lot at Edison Intermediate School.
• Replacing the boilers at Franklin School and McKinley School.
• Removing a greenhouse at Westfield High School.
• Repair to the bricks at Roosevelt Intermediate School.
• Permanent fixes to the field at Jefferson School.

“Our temporary patches of sinkholes are inefficient,” Clancy said of the Jefferson field.

The list was developed by Clancy’s committee in conjunction with Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan, interim BOE Business Administrator Vincent Yaniro and district buildings and grounds staff.

Clancy said her committee is in the process of identifying funding sources for the project. This includes looking at funds to carry over from the current budget for next year’s, along with studying funds left over from prior capital project bonds. She said the committee found funds left over in bonds from the project to expand Westfield High School and to renovate Lincoln School.

The BOE has been grappling with the capital reserve fund since the December announcement by the auditor. Yaniro has briefed BOE members that funds could be transferred into the fund after the conclusion of the current fiscal year. BOE members have said the fund has not had funds deposited into it due to the district’s reliance on bonds to pay for capital projects for the last decade.

BOE officials have noted that the district’s maintenance budget can cover routine issues and the district’s $1.8 million reserve account in the proposed school budget can handle emergencies such as a boiler explosion.

BOE Vice President Ann Cary asked if the auditorium roof at Westfield High School could be added to the plan, indicating issues during the 2010 spring high school musical.

“Two years ago as we watched Edwin Drood, the water poured down on our thespians,” she said.

Dolan indicated that she believes the roof was repaired over the high school, which Cary said she thought was not the case. Dolan and Yaniro both said they would look into the issue and add it to the priority list if needed.

BOE member Ginny Leiz asked Clancy to provide all board members with copies of the materials the facilities committee reviewed on the facilities. Clancy said those materials would be provided and said she expected future board meetings to include committee reports from her panel discussing the capital projects.

Leiz also asked Clancy about the boiler replacements, noting that other boilers were the same age as the ones at Franklin and McKinley. Clancy said all of the district’s boilers were studied.

“McKinley and Franklin were identified as the major priorities,” Yaniro said.