Facilities director outlines $9 million ventilation work at LHS, AED replacements and other capital maintenance

Facilities Director Josh Breaux updated the School Committee on March 19 about maintenance workload, recent capital projects and FY26 budget priorities, including a multi‑million dollar ventilation upgrade at Lewiston High School.

Breaux said the district spent about $9 million to improve ventilation and heating controls at Lewiston High School, replacing antiquated pneumatic controls and installing new air‑handler systems; the work also included three mechanical penthouse replacements. He reported investments of roughly $150,000 this year on playground equipment and said crews completed more than 1,700 requested maintenance tasks and about 850 preventative maintenance tasks since July 1.

Breaux described a district‑wide plan to replace aging automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and to add units so that an AED can be reached within three minutes in worst‑case scenarios; he said some schools will receive multiple units to meet that response objective. He also described improvements to gym ventilation and dehumidification at the high school and middle school.

Breaux said the facilities team has added supervisory responsibilities to three maintenance positions to improve consistency across buildings and is pursuing cooperative procurement to reduce supply costs. He asked the committee to consider targeted facility investments in FY26 and described steps taken to keep the facilities budget as flat as possible while addressing aging equipment and safety items.

Committee members asked about solar savings and procurement; Breaux said solar savings were included in this year’s budget and that new electrical loads from recent equipment purchases had been considered in planning. No formal vote on facilities items was taken at the March 19 meeting.