This is the fourth in a series of posts about the capital project needs of the Springville school district. In this series, I am describing the proposed scope of work in each of our buildings. Today we focus on one of our elementary schools, Colden Elementary School.
Before continuing let me first address something that’s come up from many sources, in many different ways since my arrival in March 2016. I recognize that our enrollment has been declining and we cannot continue to think of ourselves as a 2200 student district when we are in fact an 1800-1900 student district. We will likely face many difficult decisions in the following years as we consider if we should continue to operate all of our current school buildings and if we should continue to employ at our current staffing levels. The BOE will be charged with having those difficult discussions and I will do my very best to make sure that they have solid, factual information before them. We will be transparent, invite the public in for those difficult conversations and move forward with the best interest of ALL of our students and families in mind. It won’t be easy and I have no idea what the outcome will be, but I believe we need to stop taking sides on the subject and instead evaluate all of the information possible. We don’t even know yet if it will in fact save the district money as so many outside of Colden believe—or that it’s a better option than SES for our SGI children living in Colden as so many inside Colden believe–let’s figure the answers to those questions out and then have the discussion.
Having said that, we cannot afford to stop taking care of our buildings as we tackle these difficult decisions. The work that I am proposing be done in all of our buildings needs to be done to take care of what we have, for now and for any future proposed use.
The total bond estimate of work to be completed at Colden Elementary is $1,552,000. The proposed scope of work includes replacing pavement and miscellaneous sidewalks, re-roofing the original schoolhouse, replacing a kitchen exhaust hood that currently does not meet code, installing air conditioning in data closets, and replacing a hardwired Fire Alarm system with a new addressable Fire Alarm system.
A significant need that must be taken care of is the replacement of all carpeting with new vinyl flooring in the entire building including the main office area at a cost of $473,000. We have conducted two thorough air quality studies in Colden due to health concerns and complaints. While both studies, from two independent companies revealed that the air quality at CES is acceptable and is not a risk to our staff and students—we cannot ignore that this old carpeting may be contributing to the complaints.
Removed from the scope of the December 2015 proposed project at Colden includes installing new carbon dioxide detection system ($19,000), installing a new secured Vestibule to increase security to allow direct entry into Main Office Area ($120,000) and installing ventilation at kitchen, offices, special education area and miscellaneous areas ($139,000).
We will be reviewing the proposed project in detail at our July 5 meeting, for the BOE’s consideration. Please contact me with any questions, concerns or feedback. Thank you.