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District to replace fire alarm panels after $1.1M grant; district to cover matching funds
Summary
Perkiomen Valley SD staff said the district received a $1,100,000 fire-panel grant and will match 25% for upgrades across several buildings; work will be phased with summer installations beginning at selected campuses.
Perkiomen Valley School District staff told the Safety and Operations Committee that the district has secured a $1,100,000 grant to replace aging fire alarm panels and will use district reserves to fund the local share and phased work.
Staff said the district must provide a 25% match on the award — described as $275,000 in the committee presentation — and that the overall net cost to the district after grant application and selected phasing is estimated at $337,000. The first phase will focus on Bridal School East, West and Evergreen this summer; other campuses would be scheduled in subsequent years.
"We're still moving, full force with the fire panel replacement upgrades with the grant now we received. It's a $1,100,000 for this project, and the district has to match 25% of that with the cost of 275,000," a staff member said. "So this summer, we're gonna focus on Bridal School East, West, and Evergreen...the following year, we're gonna tackle Skipback and Schweinsville in summer of 2026."
Staff said the district used a federal contract on the Omnia platform to meet procurement guidelines, and that work will be staged so the high school and South (the high school campus) are addressed later because their panels are newer or currently functional. Staff described a planning process with CM3 (a consultant) that narrowed the initial projected scope and cost; an earlier vendor projection would have pushed the total beyond $2.5 million if all systems were replaced at once.
The committee was told the net district funding for the sections approved to move forward will be met with reserves for capital projects in the general fund; the timeline calls for board approvals in February and work to begin when schedules allow later in spring and summer.
Ending: Staff asked the committee to forward the fire-panel contract approvals to the February board meeting and said they will return with specific phasing and scheduling details for affected campuses.
