Students at United High School are finally getting air conditioning.
School board members on Thursday night approved a bid from Crawford Construction for $611,000 for the HVAC project at the high school campus.
Superintendent Jeff Whitsitt tells WGIL that the project is part of the school’s 10-year Health/Life/Safety Survey — which had bonds issued and earmarked for the work.
“Our 10-year Life/Safety Survey indicated we had ventilation issues here at the high school and that the solution was forced air/HVAC systems. We’re steam heat,” Whitsitt told WGIL Friday morning. “We just don’t move the air in our classrooms enough to meet code. So, we had to do an HVAC — so when we did our bond issue back in 2017, this was part of that project.”
“We have bond proceeds, borrowed money, set aside to do the initial HVAC work. That leaves us short of just a couple of areas here at the high school of total HVAC replacement. So, you’ve got the old gym, you’ve got the AP room. A couple of spaces like that — [and the shops] that do not have the new HVAC — would not have the air conditioning in them.”
Whitsitt says those spaces mentioned by Whitsitt operate on a steam boiler.
Also approved by the board were bids for the high school track surface from Track Surfaces Inc. for $127,000 and the school calendar.
The next school year is to start on Monday, August 16, with two days of teacher’s institute with kids coming on Wednesday, August 18. The school year would wrap up on May 26.
The calendar would also include a week-long spring break, something Whitsitt said was new to the district this year and went over well.