LPOSD: $3M needed for school upgrades
PONDERAY — Ten Lake Pend Oreille schools and buildings need an estimated $3 million in improvements, school board members were told at Tuesday's board meeting.
Matt Diel, facilities director, presented to the board a list of items in the Facility Master Plan that need replaced for each building the district owns. All projects were given a priority level of 1-3. Some of the projects were not included in the presentation because it would be more cost effective to fix when the buildings get replaced, Diel said. All of the costs presented to the board are estimates, Diel said.
Many weeks of research have been done on the needs of the buildings, Superintendent Shawn Woodward told the board.
"Matt has a real good idea of the needs of our business spaces," Woodward said.
The one common upgrade for all the schools discussed are upgrades to the bell, clock and intercom systems, Diel said.
"This is going to a bell, clock, intercom system that interfaces with our own system," Diel said. "Really important for building safety and lock down notifications."
Sandpoint High School has one of the largest lists of needed improvements, costing an estimated $1.755 million. The school needs a new bell, clock and intercom system, roof replacement over the commons and the shops, and to become compliant with ADA standards. It also needs to replace the doors and hardware on the exterior entrances and the gymnasium for security.
Carpet from 1991 needs replaced in some classrooms, and the high school needs new lockers. The cafeteria will get new flooring, and monitored fire alarm panels need installed. The school also needs to replace the ceiling tiles throughout the school. The lowest priority level was given to lay asphalt in the parking lot and get new PJ 92 bleachers to seat 479 people with five handicapped seats.
"Those ceilings have a 20-year guarantee and we are at year 25," Diel said. "It's time to replace it."
For Clark Fork, about $147,000 is needed to replace the bell, clock and intercom system, install a fume hood in the chemistry lab, and replace fire alarm panels among other repairs.
Farmin Stidwell Elementary is looking at a remodel in the next eight or nine years, Diel said, so the projects were chosen carefully. Among the projects, the school needs to replace the main entrance doors, replace flooring in the west hallways and paint the building exterior. Total costs are about $234,000.
"We had to pick and choose projects very carefully because we don't want to do improvements to Farmin Stidwell before now if we can roll forward with the master plan when that school is hopefully remodeled in year eight or nine," Diel said.
Among repairs at Hope Elementary, the school needs a new bell, clock and intercom system, new entrance doors and hardware for security, become ADA compliant, replace the flooring in the hallways, and replace the fire alarm, and repairs to the parking lot. The estimated costs are $194,000.
At Kootenai Elementary, a new bell, clock and intercom system is needed for about $10,500. Some of the school has an upgraded system and Diel said this would connect the remaining classrooms to the system.
Sagle Elementary needs to replace the bell, clock and intercom system, the flooring in the kitchen among other items. Costs are estimated at about $164,500.
Southside Elementary is in need of a major replacement project, Diel said. In the interim, a new bell, clock and intercom system is needed, as are new entrance doors and hardware for security and to replace the flooring in the school. The costs are estimated at $125,000.
Washington Elementary needs the main building replaced, Diel said, however, a new bell, clock and intercom system and new heating units in the annex are among the repairs needed. Estimated costs are $49,500.
The district office has about $285,000 in needed improvements, including a new HVAC system, replace some flooring, install a fire alarm, improve the meeting room upstairs and add parking.
"Improvements to the meeting room upstairs, I mean, we are here (at Ponderay Events Center)," Diel said.
For the transportation and child nutrition building, about $85,000 needs to be spent on new parking lot lighting and bus heater controls. A restroom also is needed.
The estimated grand total for all the projects is $3.05 million. Each project was rated with a priority level. The priority one projects total about $1.055 million, priority two projects are estimated at $895,000 and the priority three projects will cost about $1.1 million.
LPOSD is also looking into an estimated $55 million bond or plant facilities levy for maintenance on aging infrastructure throughout the district. Woodward said there are five building in the district in "dire" need of improvements. The board approved the hiring of an architect to design a new Sandpoint Middle School at the mid-January meeting. Once the final design is complete and costs are made clear, the board will examine it and other reports before making a decision about the levy.