The Iola school board continued its effort to get USD 257 facilities up to snuff Monday evening by authorizing $294,539 worth of repairs and upgrades to be completed by the start of next school year.
Aging facilities districtwide have the USD 257 board facing an estimated $3.8 million maintenance burden over the next five years. With only $125,000 of the district reserves scheduled for facility management this year, Iola’s board of education members agreed other funds would need to be tapped.
After grappling with the expenses, the board agreed to allocate $169,539 from capital outlay funds to begin chipping away at the laundry list of district’s maintenance needs laid out by Scott Stanley, USD 257 operations director.
About $240,000 of the $294,539 will fix the cracking exteriors at the middle, high and Lincoln Elementary schools, deteriorating walls within the Jefferson Elementary gymnasium, and replace portions of the roof at the middle school.
“The middle school is the worst roof in our district right now,” Stanley said, referring to one of the four buildings with extensive roofing flaws. “After a moisture scan it is showing damp insulation throughout. We see a substantial amount of leaking in the music room and locker room areas … which means the entire membrane on top is leaking.”
Along with high school chiller repairs, the other $54,539 will repair basketball goals at the middle school and pay for their inspection at the high school, replace a portion of asbestos-ridden floors and upgrade restrooms in the high school science building and sand and refinish the middle school gym floor.
Even with the decision to dig deeper than expected for repairs this year, the board still faces at least $340,000 in maintenance expenses next year as well. And with less than $600,000 remaining in reserves after Monday’s allocation and an uncertain budget outlook due to ongoing education finance legislation, the BOE members turned their attention to the potential bond issue.
“I think we’re going to need some community input here pretty quick,” said Tony Leavitt, USD 257 board president. “I’m talking about starting from the ground floor and trying to decide what in the world we’re going to do.”
The board directed to Superintendent of Schools Brian Pekarek to expedite the formation of the long-term facilities management committee and aim to hold the first meeting sometime in April, rather than waiting until the previously scheduled May target.
