Santa Fe ISD reports generator transfer failure and aging roofs; repairs planned

Santa Fe Independent School District facilities staff told the board on Sept. 15 that the district experienced a temporary power outage at the high school caused by a CenterPoint Energy pole failure and that one of the school’s automatic transfer switches did not engage as designed.

The district’s facilities representative, identified in the meeting as Mr. Wheeler, said the building’s generator did start and one 3,000-amp automatic transfer switch engaged, but the 4,000-amp automatic transfer switch did not transfer load. Staff manually flipped the switch and utility power was restored to the building within about 25 minutes. Wheeler said the district has scheduled the generator service provider that performs semiannual and annual inspections to open and inspect the 4,000-amp gear, determine root cause and perform any required repairs. He also plans a full load test on a student holiday to verify the switch operates under load.

Wheeler briefed the board on roofing work underway at the KubaCheck Annex, where crews completed reroofing and were painting eaves to match existing finishes. He said the district received approved engineering materials for a maintenance and operations warehouse project and will start that work soon.

Wheeler described broader roof-condition issues at the high school and junior high. He told trustees the junior high received a reroof in 2019 (gym and administration) and those roofs have an expected 20–25 year life. Some high school roofs date to original construction or early 2000s and use gravel-ballast assemblies; Wheeler said failures are now appearing at through-wall flashings, parapets, roof drains and ventilations flashings rather than in the field of the membrane. He said those details are causing recurring leaks and that some roof assemblies are past their 20-year life expectancy and will require replacement.

The facilities update included a funding/ownership note: Wheeler said the generator had been put in place through the General Land Office and that, per the district’s arrangement, operation and maintenance costs for the generator are the district’s responsibility (fuel, maintenance and repairs are 100% district expense). He told the board the district is “way ahead” financially on the generator and does not expect immediate shortfalls.

Board members asked technical follow-ups during the item, including whether the district could share costs with another agency (Wheeler said no), what testing and inspection steps staff will take, and whether the district has records of some roofs’ replacement histories (Wheeler said some roofs date to the 1990s or earlier and records are incomplete).