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Board reviews multi‑year capital plan; radio system upgrade and HVAC audit highlighted
Summary
Facilities staff presented a 10‑item capital plan including perimeter security, PA/clock systems, playground drainage and a districtwide energy‑efficiency audit. Separately, the district must fund a radio system upgrade after an emergency‑services grant excluded the schools.
Facilities Director Mike DelMastro and project staff outlined a 10‑item capital plan to the Western Board of Education that includes perimeter security and fencing, PA/clock system upgrades, playground regrading and paving, parking lot maintenance, replacement of locker‑room rooftop units, and a districtwide energy‑efficiency audit.
DelMastro said an energy audit contractor will begin site walk‑throughs soon to inform HVAC and lighting upgrades, and he described several site‑specific needs: playground grading and mill-and‑pave on the intermediate school basketball court, North House HVAC RFP to replace 1960s unit ventilators, and roof / boiler monitoring at the elementary school. He also urged a phased approach to avoid a single year with very high capital requests.
The board also discussed a $200,000 placeholder for a radio and communications upgrade. Administration explained that when the town received grant funding to upgrade emergency‑services radio infrastructure, the grant rules limited funding to first‑responder agencies and excluded the Board of Education. “The grant was an emergency services grant. The Board of Education is not included in emergency services, so we were not included in the grant application,” said Phil (staff member). Officials said the district could leverage the town’s tower and cell infrastructure but would still need building‑to‑building repeaters, repeaters swap/replacement and additional infrastructure to carry signals across campus. Administration characterized the $200,000 as a placeholder while consultant estimates are finalized.
Board members asked whether the district could seek additional grant funds or legislative help to join the town’s project; administrators said they will pursue available options but that past grant rounds excluded school systems in this instance. Administration reassured the board that campus radios and alert buttons provide communication now and that the district has “ample radios for the staff that need them,” but staff acknowledged the radio upgrade is important for interoperability with police and fire.
No formal votes were taken. Administration said more precise pricing for the PA/clock systems, high‑school lobby HVAC, North House and VAV actuator replacement should be available within days to weeks, and the capital list may be reprioritized after those quotes arrive.
