BOE Sets Facilities Priority List

The Board of Education took steps Tuesday night to tackle a laundry list of repairs to various school facilities.

The BOE voted to approve spending $354,800 in surplus funds on a series of roof and paving projects at seven of the district’s 10 schools. The capital improvement list comes as the district has been grappling with a debate over a capital account containing $896.

BOE Facilities Committee Chairwoman Jane Clancy briefed her colleagues that the list was developed by her committee in consultation with interim BOE Business Administrator Vincent Yaniro and Mike Morris from the school district’s facilities office. She said the list was developed in part by using a list of pressing concerns.

Clancy said the funding for the plan will come from savings found in the 2010-2011 school budget. She said the excess funds were found based on savings in the area of special education tuition and transportation, health care costs, energy and reimbursements from other levels of government.

Concern had been expressed during the budget process over the district’s $896 capital reserve account, a number which the district’s auditor recommended in December be increased to deal with potential maintenance issues in the schools. During the budget process, Clancy and BOE President Julia Walker said the district would look into ways to deposit more money into the account. At the time, Walker stressed the district had funds set aside for routine maintenance.

The centerpiece of the program, which will be implemented over the summer, is repairing the roof over gym five at Westfield High School. The $107,000 project will fix a roof that has been leaking for several years and has been cited as a top priority for the high school.

The complete list of projects on the board’s summer to-do list are:

Clancy said several projects have been tackled during the facilities planning process, including fixing a sinkhole in the field at Jefferson School. She said the district’s facilities staff had laid down 60 yards of dirt and has plans to place another 40 yards of dirt on the field.

“The field is in much better shape and it is being utilized,” she said.

In an effort to determine the cause of the sinkhole, which Clancy labeled as a district priority several weeks ago, she said Morris talked with Town Engineer Kris McAloon to study the issue. She said the town’s Department of Public Works placed a camera in the pipes underneath the field and found several to be leaking, potentially causing the sinkhole. Clancy the district will work with the DPW to find a way to fix the pipes and prevent the sinkhole from coming back.

BOE member Ginny Leiz stressed that the work with the DPW is part of the board’s expanding cooperation with the town government. Leiz, who made town/school relations a centerpiece of her three years as BOE president, said the school district has been working to develop a closer relationship with the DPW on buildings and grounds issues. She said this includes a new partnership on paving.

Leiz said in conversations she has had with Town Administrator Jim Gildea, he informed her it would be possible for the town and BOE to partner on paving issues. She said this would involve the town using leftover funds from street paving projects to assist with paving of parking lots at schools.

“I wanted to put that on the table as an opportunity for a shared service,” she said.

Clancy said several other smaller projects have been deferred at this time, including projects relating to the high school and high school parking. Clancy said these have been deferred pending completion of the high school parking study and will likely utilize funds leftover from the bond used to construct the science wing on the high school.

The funds from the high school bond project can only be used for projects at the high school aimed at addressing increased enrollment.