District operations staff and the superintendent told the School Committee the district completed multiple summer projects to prepare buildings for the start of the school year and outlined ongoing work that the city and contractors are completing.
Doctor Hall said the city and School Committee funded painting, new carpets in select rooms, parking-lot resurfacing and striping at multiple schools, installation of a 300-foot safety fence at the Rogers STEM Academy playground, modular classrooms and reconfigured classrooms for special-education use. He said the Pawtucketville Memorial building’s new AC chiller and HVAC controls are in, and roof design work is going to bid soon. The school department expects a converted medically fragile special-education classroom at the John D. site to be ready in the middle of the following week.
Committee member Daugherty asked about a line-item expense of approximately $204,000 to a specialized elevator contractor “to provide maintenance service to our school elevators, chairlifts, and state-required inspection services” and whether regular maintenance traditionally is a school or city responsibility. Hall said historically the district has paid for regular ongoing elevator maintenance while the city covers major repairs; he described the $204,000 sum as routine maintenance rather than a major repair.
Committee members raised concerns about the ongoing construction at Lowell High School’s phase 3 and asked whether contingency plans exist if sections are not ready for students at the start of school. Dr. Hall said the construction company and the owner’s project manager reported they expect the work to be ready for opening; he said contingencies exist and the district is monitoring the schedule closely.
Several committee members also asked for timely, school-by-school updates for parents, including specific traffic and entry changes. Dr. Hall said bus passes were distributed and that the Robinson parking lot will be lined and striped soon; he encouraged vigilance in the first days of school and said the district would provide updates on construction and traffic patterns before the start of the year.
The School Committee approved a separate motion (by Mr. Rossi) requesting the superintendent provide school- and staff-facing update pages about summer construction activity and any start-of-year impacts.