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

- Consultants described the feasibility work as an intensive, six‑month review that included walk‑throughs, inspections and interviews with principals and operations staff.

- The presentation groups recommended work into priority tiers (1–4). Priority 1 items cited most often were boilers and related mechanical equipment, classroom terminal HVAC units, roofing and roof‑mounted equipment, and some plumbing connections that, when repaired, require adjacent finishes to be patched and repainted.

- Consultants and staff said design authorization should be given now to meet procurement lead times. The suggested schedule: approve design contracts in June, advertise and bid in late summer/fall, award contracts by November/December, and complete construction in summer 2026 so the work does not interfere with the school year.

- The team said soft costs (design, permitting, testing, legal) typically add roughly 12–14% to hard construction costs and that longer project timelines add escalation.

Costs, packaging and tradeoffs

Presenters gave example package cost ranges and compared two pathways: a larger multi‑year program that would address priorities 1–3 across buildings within roughly a 10‑year window, or a staged approach that addresses only priority 1 items first and delays some scope. For Shrewsbury the slide presentation showed a roofing-only range of about $1.9 million to $2.3 million and a combined roofing-plus‑rooftop‑equipment range of about $3.4 million to $4.0 million; presenters said those combined numbers reflect the added cost of replacing roof‑mounted HVAC units and possible curb changes. The consultants noted estimates in the board packet had been adjusted upward in the slides and that staff would double‑check line‑item math.

Consultants repeatedly argued for packages rather than isolated repairs to gain contractor efficiency and equipment commonality: "it's more efficient to have a contractor come in that likes to do and specializes in boiler replacements," Schonk said.

Scope clarifications and unresolved questions

Board members and consultants discussed many scope details the board asked to see before authorizing design, including whether to include chilled‑water and secondary pumps replaced in prior work, the extent of testing for in‑slab piping and domestic water lines, and whether to remove or replace existing above‑ground fuel oil tanks if the district converts boilers to natural gas.

Bob Sells explained the boiler‑room scope: "the main piece of the boiler is we do have the boilers themselves, but there are other there's, hot water heaters. There's some other components, in those rooms." He added that controls, valves, expansion tanks and other central‑plant items would be replaced as part of a boiler‑room package.

Several board members pressed the consultants to confirm which items were included in each line‑item total, and to return with updated numbers at the next meeting. The board also asked consultants to further test and report on identified concerns that could change scope or cost, including potential asbestos mastic behind marker boards, reported localized leaks at terminal unit connections, and the presence of galvanized water piping in building basements (which staff later said is inside the building and acceptable to DEP at this time).

Other facility topics discussed

- Accessibility and restrooms: the middle school’s restroom layout and the need for additional stalls were discussed; consultants said some restroom fixes require reconfiguring adjacent rooms to add fixtures and to meet current accessibility dimensions.

- Flooring and finishes: board members raised carpet replacement and alternatives such as luxury vinyl plank. Presenters warned that sequencing matters: replacing carpet before other intrusive work (ceilings, plumbing, rooftop equipment) can lead to premature damage.

- Site and utility items: grease traps, exterior steps and thresholds, greenhouse floor leaks and site pavement were noted as items appearing in the priority list; consultants recommended targeted testing where there are known concerns.

Next steps and board direction

The consultants asked the board for authorization to move forward with design work so plans and procurement documents would be ready to bid for summer 2026 work. They said contractors need lead time to order long‑lead equipment. District staff and consultants agreed to return to the board in May with clarifying numbers and to seek formal approvals in June for design contracts and the recommended first project package.

Quotes used in this article come from the meeting presentation and discussion and are attributed to the speakers who made them: Scott Schonk, principal at Beers and Hoffman Architecture; Bob Sells, senior project manager at Barton Associates; and Randy Buffington, director of operations for Southern York County SD.

Ending

Board members did not vote to authorize construction at the meeting. Staff and consultants will return with clarified cost line items, additional testing results and a recommended contract strategy; the board is expected to consider design‑phase approvals in June so the recommended priority 1 projects can be bid and, if awarded, staged for summer 2026 construction.