Southern York County SD to advance boiler-room and roofing projects as first step in facilities plan

SOUTHERN YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Southern York County School District administrators and outside consultants told the school board they recommend beginning design now for a targeted package of high-priority maintenance projects so work can proceed in the summer of 2026.

Randy Buffington, the district’s director of operations, and consultants from Beers and Hoffman Architecture and Barton Associates presented a six‑month feasibility study that rates deficiencies by priority from 1 (most urgent) to 4, and outlines bundled approaches to reduce risk to boilers, HVAC equipment and roofs.

The report’s "first step," the consultants said, would be to design and bid a package that includes the boiler‑room replacements at Shrewsbury Elementary, Southern Elementary and Southern Middle School and the Shrewsbury roof and rooftop units. Scott Schonk, principal at Beers and Hoffman Architecture, summarized the approach: "we're proposing that as a step 1." He and Bob Sells, senior project manager for Barton Associates, emphasized that the boiler‑room work is not just the boilers themselves but the associated pumps, valves, controls and piping inside the mechanical rooms.

Why it matters: district staff said the boilers and connected systems have reached ages and conditions that increase the risk of in‑season failures. Buffington told the board the district has experienced outages this winter and that the district "would reduce some risk" by completing the boiler‑room work together; he added, "the hopes would be ... we would do them in the summer of 26." The study also flags code‑ and accessibility‑related items (e.g., elevator clearances, updated grab bars) and other priority‑1 needs that would follow.

Key facts and schedule

- Consultant…