Board reviews major projects and HVAC strategy; approves capital improvement budget amid generator, roofing and HVAC questions

Farmington Board of Education members on Jan. 13 reviewed the district’s major projects list for 2025–26 and voted to approve the capital improvement budget as presented to be forwarded to the town council, while asking administration for follow-up details on several items.

Director of Facilities Sam Kilpatrick described a roughly $140,000 increase in major-project requests compared with the prior year. He said about $80,000 of the added work is related to redistricting-driven classroom refurbishments (for example at Noah Wallace) and about $40,000 is for classroom painting at Westwood timed to a roof project. Kilpatrick explained that some projects were trimmed or deferred last year (East Farms ceiling project), and that different projects were brought forward based on usage and timing.

Board members asked several facility-specific questions: (1) a courtyard tree at East Farms requires more expensive removal because it sits in an interior courtyard and must be craned or cut through the building to extract it; (2) Westwood bathroom partitions are original and will be replaced with stainless steel partitions that are easier to sanitize and harder to vandalize; and (3) Irving Robbins (IAR) flooring and other previously budgeted items have unspent balances that administration said they hope to reallocate to reduce the new-year ask, pending town-council approval.

HVAC: district staff and Kilpatrick discussed delaying a large elementary HVAC program while awaiting action from the state legislature. Administration said legislators are considering making HVAC projects reimbursable under the school construction grant program (roughly 30% reimbursement cited), which would allow districts to schedule projects without competing in a grant cycle with tight timelines. Staff emphasized that prior grant cycles had strict completion timelines (about 12–18 months) that constrained project timing and could increase costs.

IAR generator and other capital items: board members questioned why the IAR automatic-transfer-switch project remains on the district list and why costs rose; district staff explained the project now requires a larger transfer switch and some reconfiguration of IT rooms and equipment, and identified an additional request in the capital ask (approximately $140,000 requested atop about $36,000 already available in the account, for a total near $176,000). Administration noted that some capital accounts have leftover balances (including an FHS roof contingency) that they are discussing with the town manager and could be redirected to cover parts of the capital ask, which would reduce the taxpayer request subject to town-council approval.

The board voted to approve the capital improvement budget as presented for submission to the town council. Staff said final allocations may change during the municipal budget process if the town transfers balances from completed projects into other accounts.

Nut graf: The board approved a capital improvement plan that funds building repairs, classroom refurbishments and equipment replacements while flagging large-ticket items (elementary HVAC, the IAR generator and roof account balances) for further coordination with the town and potential reallocation to lower the tax ask.

The vote: Board members approved the capital improvement budget (motion carried; no roll-call tally provided in the public transcript).