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Durham building services details HVAC work and $6 million ARPA funding for preventive maintenance
Summary
Building services reported 800 summer work orders, preventive maintenance plans for aging HVAC systems across schools, and said $6 million in ARPA funding will be used districtwide for HVAC preventive maintenance and air-quality improvements.
Lori Blake Reed, director of building services, told the board the facilities teams completed roughly 800 work orders over the summer and conducted intentional building inspections to prepare 61 campuses for the school year. She said the district's buildings range in age from three to 106 years and that aging HVAC systems were the largest challenge.
"This year, the district received $6,000,000," Blake Reed said, describing the funds as ARPA dollars to be used districtwide for preventive maintenance on chillers, boilers, air-handling units and filter replacements to improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency.
She said teams have implemented more systematic inspections and preventive strategies to reduce the incidence of emergency repairs and that facility-condition assessments are being used to prioritize short- and long-term capital needs in partnership with the capital planning team. Blake Reed said building grounds and custodial teams maintain more than 6,000,000 square feet and roughly 1,500 acres and that heat and rain over the summer stressed HVAC systems.
The facilities presentation followed multiple public commenters who raised concerns about mold and HVAC problems at Little River Elementary School. In public comment Katie McDonald told the board she and staff experienced mold exposure and alleged slow responses from building services; McDonald said teachers fell ill and that mold photos were submitted in early August. McDonald said she felt district leadership prioritized optics over transparency during a program rollout at Little River and repeated the phrase "wash, rinse, repeat" to describe her view of district responsiveness.
Blake Reed said building services is prioritizing preventive maintenance, roofing and plumbing inspections and that the facility team is developing short- and long-term plans to align with capital projects. She said the district is studying older work orders to combine, prioritize and complete repairs more efficiently.
Board members asked about the ARPA funds and which maintenance they could cover; staff clarified that some ARPA funds were intended for indoor air-quality and HVAC but that the county also provided a $5,000,000 contribution that can be used more broadly for capital maintenance. Officials said they will report back with priority lists and capital-planning recommendations.
